Warhammer: Wisps
by Reptile121
Summary: Ever wondered what it feels like to have a great power at your fingertips? To decide the fate of the worlds. Well now that virtual reality took a leap forward you can, only it may be more 'real' then you are ready for. Take part in universe where there is only a war and the Warp itself decided a change is in order.
1. Chapter 1

Hello everyone this is my first story that I'm writing based on a bunny plot that has been hopping around my head for at least a week and a half. You will find here elements from manga like Gamer and World Customize Creator along with mention of Sword Art Online. I hope for constructive criticism and advice to improve my writing. Also it would be wonderful to find a beta reader for this and maybe my future works.

Anyway enough of my ranting, sit back and enjoy.

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**Prologue: And So It Begins**

**Stuttgart, Germany, Earth 2022**

"I would like to welcome all of you on the grand opening of Morpheus Sleep Entertainment System. This new revolutionary device will allow gamers all around the world to enjoy new gaming experience!" Tall, bald man with green tinted shades and black tuxedo announced from the podium of E3 2022 Hall. The audience followed every motion and word of William Glade the CEO of Black Star Entertainment. The rising star among the gaming companies.

It all started in 2016 when Black Star emerged after console market crash, their announcement of Direct Neural Link system that allowed people to literally become the character of the game. The potential of this type of device caught attention of several big shots from military and government. Any funding problems Mr. Glade might have had were resolved by generous donations from various government agencies worldwide and all of this for the promise of developing VR Training program using this device.

Seeing as Black Star didn't want to put all eggs in one basket they first concentrated on commercial product which they later named Morpheus and assured their benefactors that first they need to test product on general population so any bugs could be eliminated and improved system shipped to the military. With that type of insurance the programming and Cyber Neural pathways necessary for the Morpheus were being developed at astonishing rate.

"With this system you no longer need to waste and time during the day, you can get your daily dose of entertainment during a sleep, more importantly to those concerned about the safety of using Morpheus our team has developed a series of safeguards that upon any malfunction eject gamer into normal sleep cycle without any negative effects upon body or psyche. There will be no user death like in that manga many people mentioned." Flashes of multiple cameras punctuated William's speech. There was a general excited murmur among the audience following this grand event both those present in the hall and those watching via streams.

"But what is a gaming system without a game dedicated to use full potential of the system?" Now that question stirred the hive, both competition and customers were quite shocked realizing what CEO was pointing at.

"Yes, we have been developing the game along the device for the last six years. We spent a lot of our funds getting the rights necessary to utilize Warhammer 40k universe. Right now we have Forty thousand devices ready to be shipped to those lucky enough to win them in lottery that we are starting right now." There was a lot of action in the audience everyone started buying lottery tickets from Black Star's webpage. All 120 thousand tickets were bought in ten minutes flat.

"To those who are not chosen in first wave do not be alarmed, you will be supplied with Morpheus with second shipment ready in a month. After that we decided to sell it for half the price most gaming consoles nowadays are being sold. Yes my dear friends you will not pay more then equivalent of 500 dollars and best of all you get the game along with the device all installed and ready to go." Buying frenzy would be apt name for the general sentiment that could be felt among all those that followed this announcement. With tickets sold out a lot of people started placing orders for next shipments. Let's just say that manufacturing branch will be put under a lot of stress in the following months.

"I thank you all for your presence here and support you have given to our company, I hope you will enjoy our products as most gamers say good luck and have fun." William stepped back into the shadows of backstage smiling at the people before him. His smile turned into into the one full of mirth as he vanished from the sight of others. He lowered his shades and displayed the glowing red eyes, the same ones as those found in denizens of the Warp.

"The stage is set. Let's see how much havoc they can wreck upon my universe."

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**Dover, England, Earth 2022**

"**Fuck YEAH!"** Loud yell shook an apartment flat to the foundations. On the third floor a 23 year old student danced in joy as a red 'You have been chosen' message was displayed on his laptop. Brown hair swayed with momentum and green eyes wide with joy. 1.85 meters of lithe athletic muscle moved with a grace between desk, old be and tacky wardrobe.

"What in seven bloody hells are you yelling for, you wanker?" Came a question from beyond the doors.

"I have just won a lottery that will make my life so much more fun." Michael Blackwell was the name of the student, 3rd year of electrical engineering student to be precise but that is not important.

"Now then…" Mike sat back and started reading on details of his prize. Apparently the system will arrive in 3 days and then he would need to read manual attached to the Morpheus.

"Wisps? Now that doesn't seem to fit Warhammer universe at all. Eh whatever I am hyped up!" Blackwell spun in his chair and laughed; lucky lady smiled upon him or did she?

**3 days later.**

"Upon attaching the device the cord will automatically will connect to user neural network and initialization process will begin. Warhammer 40k: Wisps will connect to main server where all users can interact with each other and tutorial phase of game will begin." Mike finished reading manual and looked upon the Morpheus which looked like futuristic helmet with a metal plate instead of visor and cable plugged into the contact where it was provide with necessary power to operate.

"Alright let's do this." He smiled and stripped to the boxers. He laid down on his be and put the helmet on his head.

"New user detected… Connecting…" Pleasant feminine voice sounded and then Mike felt a prick at the base of his neck then darkness took him.

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**Somewhere in the Warp**

Countless balls of light started to appear and float in the chaotic waves of the Warp. From time to time their shine increase just to dull moments later. Black ball of light soon joined its brethren and spun in lazy circles.

"Welcome to commander creation interface. Please choose your faction and customize commander avatar." Ethereal voice reverberated in Michael's ears. Seven symbols appeared before his eyes. Each with description of the faction it belonged to. Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Necrons, Tau, Chaos, Eldar and Orks.

"Hmm so its more like RTS? Well from what I remember guards are just average joes, so they get raw end of any deal in this universe. Might as well improve their odds." At first Blackwell was astonished his voice sounded like chorus of different voices with varying pitch, but soon grew accustomed to this phenomenon. He touched imperial two headed eagle and was instantly moved to a dark room with generic bald human male in black trenchcoat and officer cap.

"You have 100 visual points available for commander customization , it is possible to convert visual points into skill points at the exchange rate of 3 to 1." So three visuals make it one skill point. Not half bad deal as far as Mike was concerned.

Blackwell decided to forgo trenchcoat and instead dressed his avatar in black and tan dragonskin tactical outfit he remembered from one game. He only though of this outfit and it appeared on his commander, now that opened new avenues of experimentation. Ten minutes later and dozen of ridiculous clothing articles later he came to conclusion that there is no limit to the content. Or rather the limit was one's imagination. Think about something and it appears. Blackwell decided to finish process with polarized set of goggles and face wrapped in bandages. As for the head gear he picked up black beret with radio headset.

Having used up 87 points Mike added emblem to his clothing one black and red striped scorpion on beret. He definitely like that one. Next step was the voice. Blackwell went for a deeper version of his own voice. That process knocked down his remaining points to 9. New imperial officer, believing in 'Waste not, want not' rule, converted it to 3 extra skill points.

"Commander visual and skill points will be awarded with each new level player will gain." So tutorial handler as Mike dubbed the voice, gave more information and also introduce the rpg aspect of the game.

"Points can be used to also modify army appearance and unit specifications." If that worked the same way commander creation did, well let's just say it will be interesting.

"Please allocate skill points to desired abilities. Points remaining 13." Now that proved to be a problem, there were no skills that Micheal could see unless….

"Encouragement. Improve unit dps and boost morale." Lo and behold an icon of hand clenching rifle appeared. That ability improved all infantry rate of fire by 20% and gave 33% of their morale back. It cost him 2 points.

"Sky eye. Vision of designated area." Imagination sure is great weapon in this game. That skill took care of his recon problems that he may have. Displays 1 kilometer radius of area concealed by fog of war for 10 seconds. With that one it took his skill points down to 7. Mike understood the more powerful ability it was the more points it will take to create and improve.

"Strafing run. 3 bomber craft will strafe enemy units in line." Heavily disruptive ability as description depicted and costly too. Knocks down and suppresses enemy infantry in 80 by 4 meters area. Deals 200 damage to unarmored units, 120 to armored vehicles. Cost of 4 points.

"Rapid deployment. Decrease reinforcement time." Last 3 points were invested into sustainability. Blackwell knew his units were not the toughest ones in the game and also quantity is quality of its own right? This skill reduces squad reinforcement time by 45 %.

"Those 3 extra points sure made this a little bit easier." Mused Blackwell and looked upon his work. All in all it presented itself quite nicely. Mike decided to finish the creation phase and enter the game proper.

As if on cue he was moving through the void, all around him thousands of light spheres were hurtling in every direction. Soon his black ball of light punched through invisible barrier and into the material plane. That action sent shockwaves throughout whole universe.

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**Holy Terra, Golden Throne. 30 minutes later.**

"_**Have you come here to gloat again Khorne**_?" God Emperor questioned blood soaked abomination of chaos prince. Soon in the immaterial plane surrounding the place other deities and players in the universe appeared. Gork an Mork orkish patrons, Tzeench, Slaneesh an Nurgle remaining chaos princes, Deciever and Nightbringer of C'tan, a consciousness of Eldar farseer and Tau ethereal caste.

"_As much as I would like it is not my goal, this time." _Khorne replied crossing his black armored arms.

" _We have a big problem."_

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Here it is, I will try to post a chapter once a week, but no promises.

Also I hope to find a beta reader for future chapters.

Pax.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Hello readers. I have come across some good ideas in this week and I am attempting to implement those now that I have some time to write.

Well then sit back and enjoy.

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Chapter 1: 1337th Crow Guard

**Holy Terra, Golden Throne.**

"**And pray to tell me, what is such a big problem that it requires the presence of your kind."** Emperor's thick distaste of present company could almost be cut with chainsword.

"_For you to fully understand the gravity of situation I need to bring forth the history of chaos and all seven aspects of it." _Tzeench's voice could be only described as a screech of some carrion bird.

"_Yes. There are seven aspects. I am Pride, Nurgle is Gluttony, Khorne represents Wrath an Slaneesh is personification of Lust. There are three more." _Seems like chaos prince of change was almost reluctant to part with that information.

"_Cthulhu the Sloth, Nyarlathotep tied to Envy and finally Catillatio of Greed." _Truth to be said that part of monologue captivated the rest of the gathering.

"_Cthulhu sleeps in his plane of R'yeleth, he is dead and yet still leaves almost like you."_ Tzeench's barb seemed to make God Emperor uncomfortable.

"_As for Nyarlathotep he is away in other galaxy, unable to stand our presence and power. One could say he was green with envy." _Alas prince's of change crude humor was left without appreciation.

"_And that leaves us with Catillatio, he is or rather was imprisoned in a place of complete solitude, Blank Citadel if I remember correctly. What he was imprisoned for? Well let's just say he laid his hands on our possessions without intent of relinquishing them." _Tzeench's beak twisted into a caricature of frown as he continued his explanation.

"_You felt the energy waves just a while ago? That was his energy. Even after more then twelve millennia I still remember his sordid presence." _

"_How he escaped? He is personification of greed, so my guess is every single time you denied a planet to your enemies by exterminatus he got massive boost in souls and power. After all he was known in denying his enemies what he could not have." _All gods and psykers present paused to evaluate their situation. Most saw an opportunity to one up four chaos princes or humble them with their old rival. Some saw a dangerous opponent and finally one Farseer came upon the idea of salvation for her people.

"**I shall do nothing until he tries to strike at me, as far as I see he has for more reason to seek revenge upon the four of you."** Anathema of chaos has spoken with barely visible smirk already calculating the profits his empire will reap from chaos civil war.

"_**You upstarts always amuse my kind, your machinations are imperfect and almost always blow terribly in your faces. It is your problem not mine."**_ That was general consensus from C'tan.

"**THIS WILL BE RIGHT PROPER WAAAGH FOR ME BOYS! I NO NEED YOUR CHAOS BOYS PUSSFOOTIN IN NICE FIGHT!" **Any hope of assistance from orkish patrons melted like snow in heat.

"For the Greater Good we will not ally with you. I shall not allow my people to fall into your manipulative claws." Tau were next to reject any ideas of alliance with ruinous powers.

"_My people have already once fallen to your treachery, we will wait when he weakens you and then our brethren shall be free from your vile grasp._" And so the Eldar turned their backs on chaos unspoken offer.

On by one gods and mortals left Emperor's pocket dimension, last four unwelcome visitors were forcefully ejected deep into the Warp. All four of them seething at their rivals rejection. Realization of great threat to their monopoly over Warp forced them to unite in the face of common enemy. One that quite possibly I more powerful then all of them put together. But what could they expect of an entity that gorged itself on billions upon billions of souls throughout the millennia.

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**Pavonian Heartlands, Kronus , Ultima Segmentum.**

Black ball of light crash landed in the middle of lush green grass next to lake. Grey prefabricated structures that belonged to imperial guard could be seen on the other side of the nameless lake. It were the first hours of the dusk and multi colored falling starts could be observed streaking towards the surface of the planet.

"Well that was one hell of a ride" Muttered Blackwell as he dusted himself from rough landing. Once he spotted the imperial outpost his destination was decided.

15 minutes later he knew that the outpost was desolated, laser fire and bolter holes marred the grey walls of guardsmen headquaters, the barracks were missing a southern wall and most turrets were in various state of disrepair. All in all the outpost was abandoned in the aftermath of, if Mike was right, a chaos raid.

"You have successfully acquired your first base of operations. Here you can construct your vehicles and train your troops. Army customization option unlocked. Remaining Army Visual Points: 20, remaining Army Skill Points: 10. AVP to ASP exchange rate is 2 to1." The voice of tutorial was welcome help for beginning commander.

"To begin customization process please enter faction headquaters an use main terminal. Waypoint added." Green arrow appeared above Imperial main building, distance and elevation figures were include in waypoint information. Blackwell thought it would be mighty helpful for future artillery barrages.

Once he found dust console, Michael put his hands on the interface keyboard paying no heed to his lack of knowledge pertaining High Gothic language. His hands worked by themselves accessing plasma generators, turning them back online, establishing black hat connection to orbiting fleet an getting real time display of region he was currently residing in. Finally he accessed troop deployment menu and his gaze fell upon standard imperial guardsman. Epitome of average. Statistics. Type of weapon. Armor quality. Troops available in total an etcetera.

"Now that's not going to work at all. Those guys might be cheap but calling them cannon fodder is just an insult to cannon fodder as they are now." Sighed Blackwell as he browsed through all statistics. Seems like he could only deploy three squads of guardsmen 9 men each. Hardly a noticeable force in any conflict.

"That wont do at all, it's no wonder these guys get their asses handed to them in almost all fights. Time to improve my infantry." With that said new commander pressed modify option on the console and went through the same process as when he was creating the body he is now on control of. He let his mind create the visual appearance he desire for his soldiers to have and his body started to unconsciously input commands necessary to change it.

The end result were men in thick black combat vests lined with multitude of pockets for ammunition and other utilities. Black and olive BDUs reminiscent of his own, ilve knee, shin and elbow guards and black tactical backpack. Tan hood covered metallic black helmet and grey Hammer facemask. Tan outline of a beak was painted on the mask and black and blue optic sensors in eye space, left optical sensor was blue and shaped in horizontal rectangle, right was circle with blue outline and red center.

As far as weaponry was concerned. Blackwell used a rifle from first F.E.A.R game. G2A2 Rakow, modified to use gauss technology, basically it almost elevated it to the level of a bolter. Anyway it was better then standard issue laser rifle most guardsmen were carrying, but not quite the space marine cheapest bolter. Something in between. Aside from that he gave them single shot railgun handgun as sidearm an available additional weapons that require requisition and power. Those additional weapons were Coil Sniper rifle which worked like a railgun only on much greater distances and cost 50 units of energy apiece. Underbarrel 40mm Grenade launcher with three types of grenades, EMP against armor, incendiary for light armore targets and high explosive for dealing with buildings.

Lastly he added a squad leader with 'Suppressive fire" ability which instantly slowed enemy to crawl and imposed great penalties on their accuracy. The second skill is "Entrench position" which made squad start digging foxholes and trenches in which they were impervious to suppress effect and gained bonus morale. Squad leader could be distinguished among other troops by lack of hood and helmet, instead h got grey boonie hat.

All of his units and building got a scorpion emblem he had designed and white 1337 number.

"This ump needs renovation. Spawn three techpriests and three full squads of Crow Guard Guardsmen." The computer acknowledged his orders and hummed working. Big green 'COMPLETE; information appeared in next 5 minutes. Blackwell nodded to himself and walked outside the building to organize his troops.

"Ready for your orders sir." Chorus of voices welcomed his appearance among his murder of crows.

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Here is the second part; it is slowly moving forward and in next chapter I hope to introduce some fighting.

Anyway Relax, Read and Review

PAX


	3. Chapter 3

AN: To all my readers I apologize for delay I have been bogged down with truckload of work and papers pertaining my student stipend. Apparently administration of my university might loose a race with a bloody snail. Moreover these guys do not have a slightliest idea what they are doing. They appear to be doing something, but this 'something' is mainly playing solitaire and drinking coffee all the time. Anyway enough of my ranting here is the chapter enjoy.

Chapter 2: First Blood

"First thing, you will need designations." Blackwell faced his three squads.

"You will be Hammer." Michael points at squad to his left and receives nods of acknowledgement.

"Yours will be Scythe and you guys are Dagger." Next two groups saluted.

Commander looked at the base and started to relay orders to his troops.

"I want Hammer and Scythe to dig trench near the ramp exit. Think of big red line. Nothing that doesn't bear two headed eagle crosses the red line. Dagger you will need a designated marksman, send someone to grab Coil Sniper from the armory. You will start recon operations toward the hill to the west. Techpriests I want generators up to 100% and turrets back online as soon as possible. Once you get those things done start repairing the buildings."

Mike's orders were received and understood, because as soon as he was one giving them whole base was in a flurry of activity. Techpriests mechanical limbs were replacing and mending damaged sections of the generators. Hammer and Scythe squads started digging 12 by 2 by 1.5 meter trenches. Dagger troops formed a loose column and started to move down the ramp towards their destination.

All was well, or as good as Blackwell could hope for in this rocky beginning. Now that he had a couple minutes without anything to do Michael decided to start creating defensive and offensive plans for the future. He knew that his enemies will be merciless, cunning, fearless and relentless. The most worrying part was the fact that Space Marines were here not to help Imperial Guard but to evict them under some lousy excuse of chapter's artifacts. Way to break an alliance that might have secured this world.

As far as Blackwell was concerned he was rouge element, so he can not expect any assistance from local Imperial forces. Moreover General Lucas Alexander would most likely assimilate his forces into his, already battered regiments. That was one event that Mike would not let to happen. Where was the fun in following some jumped up self centered jackass that, if state of neighboring province is anything to go by, is also an incompetent commander.

Blackwell sighed, maybe he was a bit hard on the guy, from what he saw Alexander was surrounded by powerful foes and Victory Bay is not the easiest place to defend. Even with that superweapon of his General would be hard pressed to move on to offensive with Blood Ravens to the North, Necrons to the West and bloody Chaos pressing from South. Considering the patches of corruption on the other side of the lake it was the Chaos that laid waste to the province. If ruinous powers forces were still present in this place Blackwell knew he would be in for one bloody damn hard fight.

Best scenario young commander could have hoped for were Eldar, but then again they were situated to the far North-West. The situation he was faced with was basically free for all. Orks hammering Chaos, Tau, Necrons and Eldar locked in three way fight over a capital city. Space Marines going full force towards Necron controlled territories, and C'tan servants pushing them back. Finally Chaos continuously attempted to take Victory Bay without success so far and Governor Militant's forces holed in bunkers repelling ruinous power servants.

Hell of a political situation. Well at least he was not alone in this shitstorm other players will have as many problems with their start. He was not aware he spent more then half an hour lost in thoughts and plans.

"Commander this is Dagger we have encountered heretics in burnt farmstead halfway towards navpoint. They haven't spotted us. Permission to engage?" Radio report from one of his squads broke Blackwell's train of thoughts and focused his mind on the situation at hand. His enemy was clear now. That meant strike force with heavy infantry with horde of cultist cannon fodder or maybe, if he was lucky, just a reconnaissance for bigger force. Gouge out the eyes and leave them blind. If these cultists are just scouts he will need to take them out before they can report back. That in turn means a trap is necessary.

"Negative Dagger wait for Scythe to reinforce you near navpoint Charlie, circle the farmstead and cut off their retreat, remain concealed." Blackwell orders were acknowledged and Scythe halted their digging to join up with other squad.

"This is Scythe; we are on the move ETA 15 minutes." With that Michael walked into the Command Center and input commands that allowed him to see the battlefield through the visors of his soldiers.

Eighteen monitors lit up revealing Crows line of sight, health and ammunition status. Couple minutes later Dagger's maneuvers were completed and Blackwell could see the composition of Chaos forces present in farm. Two squads of cultists, standard laser weapons and cursed swords. Some were drawing sigils of their foul gods, some let themselves fall into the arms of debauchery and only two sentries were posted. Definitely Slaneesh cultists. Less said about the debauchery the better.

"For fucks sake, I did not need to see that, will need to wash my eyes, with bleach." Muttered the commander and pinched his nose.

"Dagger I want you to find enemy squad leaders and mark them for the Scythe, you will start with them and move down to grunts, if they charge you suppress them and let Scythe to reap them from behind." Mike realized what he just said and remembered what he saw earlier. Maybe he could have picked his words a little better.

"Scythe in position, will commence on your mark."

"Dagger ready."

Blackwell exhaled the breath he did not know he was holding. This type of operation was all or nothing. In the event he succeeds, he will buy himself couple days to improve his army and defenses; should he fail the scouts will report back and full force of Chaos will come crashing down on his head sooner then he would be even remotely ready for.

"Green light, mow them down." The order that started the bloodshed, the first kill for the Wisps and unknowingly first souls that would be sent to Chaos god of Avarice.

20 mm tungsten slug rammed into the cranium of the cultist scribbling chaos symbols on the burnt wall. Whatever he was writing has been covered in new coat of paint blood and brain matter grey color. The electric sound of coilgun discharge alerted the rest of the gathering. Those who could started to frantically search for their weapons. Others started to run towards the building, all in vain.

"Vae Victis." Muttered Blackwell as cultist after cultist fell to Rakow assault rifle fire. .50 cal Titanium slugs coated in tin made it were deadly projectile. At certain velocity tin started to rend itself apart giving it fragmentation ability while Titanium cored made sure it punched right through the armor.

For cultists wearing outdated flak jackets and light armor padding's it was as if Grim Reaper himself came down to end them all. Huge holes ripped in their chests, missing limbs where more then one round hit, entrails spilling out of shredded abdomens, even one instance of full decapitation. Of more then eighteen cultist only one touched by Slaneesh survived the intense hail of death. Her survival might have been due to fact that ricochet lost most of its force and upon impact managed to knock her out.

"Check the bodies for intel, if there are any survivors bring them in for interrogation, bear in mind I don't give a single fuck how beat up they are as long as they can answer my questions. Do you copy?" While written intelligence might have been nice it is always better to rip first hand knowledge from living enemy. Anyway that is what Blackwell read from some book couple years back.

As for half deamonette, well she has just entered a very special hell reserved for traitors of the Imperium.

Might be little shorter then I would like. Promise next chapter will be longer. Also will try to reserve some time during the weekend to write something longer/better?.

Read &amp; Review lads and lassies.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry for going AWOL lads. I have joined the corps and participated in a year of grueling combat training. I still have no idea how in seven hells did I make it through the basic training. After first 4 months I went into armored core. Fast forward eight months and now I am proud driver of Rosomak IFV.

Now that I am on the official leave for a week or so I can resume my writing. As for future I will take my laptop next time and write in free time between being on duty. I'll upload finished chapters as soon as I get Internet connection.

**CHAPTER 4. Information Procurement. Prelude to War.**

**SUPPLY DEPOT #2. Pavionian Heartlands. **

"Listen here lassie, we can do it easy way or hard way and I say this right now the sheer agony I can introduce you to will make hell look like a paradise resort." A figure shrouded in shadows was briefly illuminated by the flash of lighter as it lit a cigarrette. Polarized goggles reflected demihuman bound to the metal pole and illuminated by flashing light bulb.

"I know you are one of chaos playthings, but here I am the god. I want to know the location of your outpost." Cloud of smoke escaped interrogator's bandaged lips. Reflection of stray beam of light revealed a collection of sharp instruments of torture laying on nearby metal crate.

"Chaos consumes all, you are fool to think I will break." Screeching noise of bound Slaneesh cultist echoed across the building. The chuckle that answered the bold claim was merly a prelude of things to come.

"That was your first and last freebie lass. Last chance to do it freely." Interrogator slash commander took long drag on his ciggy and exhaled a plume of grey smoke.

"You all are weak, your theatrics don't frighten me." Half deamonette snarled towards her captor. Black bangs framed her bloodied face. Black coals of eyes stared full of hate. Cute face twisted in grotesque snarl. Lithe body twisted in razor wire binding. Two mismatched hands desperately wrought to loosen the bonds immobilizing them.

"You had your chance. Hard way it is. You think you know madness, let me introduce you to the true definition of it." Blackwell flicked his cigarrete to the far corner of the room picked combat knife from nearby crate and advanced toward the captive.

"Welcome to hell, I will be your personal attendant for the duration of your stay." Commander whispered into deanmonette's ear and started to cut.

**OUTPOST PATER. West ramp. Pavonian Heartlands.**

"For Emperors sake." Whispered Hammer two. The screams of torment could be heard even through closed titanium doors of storage building.

"The Old Man really went at it." Hammer one, the corporal in charge of Hammer commented on the noise coming from the building. Whole Hammer squad finished digging the trench they were assigned to and decided to idle around until new order were issued.

Some men took puffs of deathsticks common to Hive worlders, others drank water from their canteens. Two guys started playing dice and betting MRE rations in their game of chance.

"Tell me about it, ever since we were deployed here, the commander has been walking around as if he was constantly pissed off." Hammer two sipped from his canteen trying to soothe his dry throat after hard work.

"Look at it this way. We are cut off from main supply line. Effectively operating in the enemy territory, trying to put together this outpost after literal fuckload of chaos rolled through here towards Victory Bay. If I were the one in charge of this place I would go raving mad long time ago." The explanation from the corporal seemed to calm down worried trooper.

The screaming stopped after 10 minutes. Single gunshot emanated in the silence of the aftermath. Michael walked out of the supply depot covered in blood and looking exhausted. Freshly lit cigarette hung limply from his bandaged mouth.

"Somebody get in there and clean the mess I left. Torch the body. I don't want any suprises coming from chaos spawn playing possum." Blackwell barked towards Hammer members and watched as they scurried inside with a can of petrol.

Mike took out his PDA and accessed communication tab. It was small tablet like device which allowed him to monitor and send orders. It also worked as wireless connection to the mainframe of the base which allowed him to modify his army and access his character skills and level up points.

As it is the successful wipeout of enemy squad was worth enough experience to level up and unlock new unit type. Heavy Weapons Team or Heavies as he liked to call them.

Blackwell modified the unit as soon as he unlocked it spending all available army points on them. First was operators appearance. Gone was the standard Imperial Guardsman look replaced by Crow Guard template he used for general Infantry. With main difference from GIs being heavy backpack loaded with ordnance used for weapon emplacement they carried. The hood was also replaced in favor of extra metal plate to the front of helmet.

As far as weapons went these guys were issued with personal sidearms. Standard issue AT4 semi automatic 50 cal pistols. Main weapons differed, they were dependent on variant. Copperheads were issued with XML five barreled minigun look alike fixed on tripod. It was the default version of the unit. Then there was the anti tank version, Halberd. Twin barreled recoilless rifle firing 88 mm self propelled grenades at armored targets. Finally the artillery variant the Hailstorm. Using Heavy mortar with 120 mm shells to rain high explosive and incendiary payload upon the unexpecting foes.

They were equipped with two abilities that were worth a note. Mainly Liquid Coolant for all variants which increased the fire rate of the weapons. Shredder rounds which were basically hollow points for Copperheads. HEAT missiles for Halberd team, those projectiles ignored the armor mitigation. Finally Cluster Bomb payload for Hailstorm, the specification of these rounds allowed them to become deadly area of effect weapon with sixteen smaller mortar rounds locked in one larger.

Michael was already recruiting two Heavies, one of them was Copperhead the other Hailstorm. It was all based on the information that his latest 'guest' has divulged. Location, enemy unit composition, commander's name and even the color of underwear he wore. Safe it is to say that Blackwell was through with his interrogation.

Quick use of Recon ability confirmed the reliability of the information. Plan of attack was drawn and Dagger along with Scythe set up ambush near the main entrance of enemy base. As soon as Heavies are ready and reinforce the assault teams he will break his foe's hold on this sector.

"Guns are eager for action. Sir!" Two heavy Weapon Teams appeared upon the recruitment process ending. The two, two men teams managed to salute while carrying the heavy instruments of destruction. Blackwell chuckled and set up navigation point for new units.

"Your new designation is Iron for Artillery and Steel for heavy machinegun. I want you Iron guys to set up bombarding position near assault teams so you can send HE shells inside their dens and rattle their jimmies enough for them to rush madly at you. Steel will take care of immediate annoyances while Dagger and Scythe assault teams will mop up the rest and later raze that place."

Blackwell finished giving his orders and his troops followed them without question. It brought a sense of pride and entitlement. Authority at its finest.

What Michael was not aware it was the influence of his shady benefactor that allowed him to ignore the revulsion of torture and emboldened the feelings he was the recipient of. What future holds in store for the young commander?

Next chapter Pavonian Purge.

As always my friends read, enjoy and review.

Thank you for the previous feedback.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Here comes next chapter, this time it will be combat oriented content. I am high on caffeine and motivated. Saw my account balance in positive figures… Finally. All in all things start to look up. Been playing Soulstorm recently on hard difficulty. It is impropably hard to accomplish anything with stock Conscripts from Imperial Guard. Anyway I will end my rant here and get on with the story.

As always, read, enjoy, review.

**CHAPTER 5 Pavonian Purge**

"Scythe is position." Radio contact echoed from commander's PDA. Black dot signified units position behind line of dead trees, facing the plain where enemy installations were.

"Dagger in place. We have visual on forty plus footmobiles near corrupted barracks." Report from second assault team followed first one. As soon as it arrived red dots depicting enemy forces appeared on PDA map.

"Steel here. We have good firing arc in this position. Anyone approaching Iron, Scythe or Dagger will be turned into mincemeat." Heavy machinegun emplacement set up behind chest high stone wall covering 180 degrees of field.

"Iron ready. We got firing solution for high value targets ready. Confirm order of targets." Mortar team placed their weapon in the hole left after earth shaker round, just behind Steel's nest.

"This is command, assault teams and Steel priority targets are infantry. Iron first target is barracks, next supply depots 40 degrees to you left. Last target is the command building. Use HE shells. After static targets are neutralized load cluster payload and terminate footmobiles." Blackwell issued orders looking at PDA from furthermost right flank. 50 meters away from Steel team.

This was first battle in which Mike was commanding from frontline. He visited the newly restored armory prior to this particular engagement. He picked up power sword mostly seen in commissar's equipment. Additionally he outfitted himself with two AT4 pistols with extended magazines and bandolier of six frag grenades. Those extra 5 rounds might save life.

"Solid copy command. We will begin on your mark." Confirmation of artillery crewman was last message that signified the end of preparation for the attack.

Blackwell started to feel tension in the air. The invisible blade of grim reaper hovering over their collective heads. One mistake. One mistake is all it takes for the whole operation to go south, and then death would be favorable outcome. Other options included torture, insanity and main role in the sacrifice ritual to one of the chaos princes.

Suffice to say failure is not an option. To even consider it is to lay down your arms and accept pain beyond wildest dreams. Better yet save enemy trouble and put one bullet in your head. Faster, cleaner and generally more pleasant considering other options.

Michael took a minute to calm himself. Dismiss grim predictions and focus on the goal at hand. They will win, they have to. Everything is set, time to make a move.

"Iron begin bombardment, rest of you wait for infantry to reach 100 meter marker before you open fire. Dagger tell your marksman that weapon specialists have to go first. All confirm." The battle for Pavonian Heartlands has officially began, as last confirmations of order arrived.

First shell impacted the antenna of barracks completely obliterating it and ripping massive chunk of concrete from building's roof. That alone gathered attention of their foes. Frist cam panic commonly associated with surprise attack. Then cultist leaders managed to take charge of their predicament.

Second shell detonated on landing pad which doubled as a portal to the warp. The damage it caused erased the runes stabilizing connection to the warp. That in turn cut off any reinforcements that chaos forces could have hoped for.

By the third mortar round cultist managed to pinpoint the location of artillery emplacement. The literal horde of madmen rushed towards Iron team. The ordnance impacted the side wall of the barracks shredding anyone still inside with concrete chunks. Damaged steel pillar collapsed under weight and half of the building caved on itself.

In less than a minute enemy forces reached designated marker. They were welcomed with rapid fire from minigun and served seconds from assault teams combined fire. Ten of the original forty fell. Their mangled bodies were trampled by the rest. Cultist seemed to be influenced by Khorne. No fear, no mercy, no regrets. Their screaming 'Blood for blood god' helped to confirm it.

They rushed firing wildly ignoring dead and wounded. A scream of pain echoed from Blackwell's left heralded first friendly casualty. True to that a member of dagger fell out of his cover with laser burn visible in his throat.

"Suppress them!" Michael yelled to Scythe and remaining Dagger teams.

As soon as they heard it 17 men opened up disregarding accuracy in favor of sheer volume of fire poured in the enemy's direction slowing them to crawl as leftovers of self preservation kicked in. Machinegun crew continued to mow down suppressed enemies dropping their numbers to the quarter of original fighting force.

Remaining cultist finally got the bright idea of seeking cover. They hid behind the rocks to the left of Mike's infantry. Their bravado as well as morale must have taken a massive hit as they returned fire sporadically. Dagger's marksman singled out a cultist with plasma rifle and put 20 mm round through his forehead. The spray of red mist demoralized cultist further. 9 madmen remaining, pinned down and broken. Good start as far as Blackwell was concerned.

Artillery finished demolishing barracks with a shell which hit explosives stockpile. Already damaged structure crumbled completely as aftershocks of small arms munition explosions further damaged supports integrity. Next in line was depot with requisition materials. Even if by some miracle the attack was repelled and Crow Guard forced to retreat the loss of strategic resource will set chaos forces in position where they will be vulnerable to next attack. A crippling blow.

Of course Mr. Murphy had to rear his ugly head and corrupted Rhino transport with two squads of traitor marines appeared from behind of the command structure. Chaos marines were few in numbers but they were veterans of centuries of battles. Blackwell's men had more dangerous foe now.

"Priority switch. Iron load up cluster bomb. Target remaining cultists. Afterward switch back to HE and try to take out APC. Steel concentrate fire on traitor marines. Dagger get your marksman to aim for weak spots in their armor. Mouthpiece and eyeholes and armor joints. Rest continue to suppress cultists." Orders issued were orders followed.

One air burst later and deadly payload of cluster bomb detonated further killing off cultists. Only two remained, both armed with plasma rifles. The braver of the two took potshot which melted Steel team's loader. The heavy weapon gunner panicked and missed burst intended for chaos marines.

From there things escalated rather quickly. While second shell missed Rhino, the close proximity of explosion managed to blow its tracks off, reducing it to stationary weapon platform. As it was armed with heavy bolter turret it still was a significant hazard. A hazard which sprayed its round in Scythe's general direction.

The high caliber of bolter rounds ripped through the dead wood that used to be team's cover. While Dragonskin armor was upgraded flak armor that any Guardsman packed it still was only flak armor. Against the power of bolter round and heavy one at that it might as well have been paper.

"Sir. Whole Scythe just flatlined. We need orders, our guys are wavering." Panic was just a step away from Dagger team. Mike knew it and had one skill to help with the problem. Time for some encouragement.

"Fight harder lads, we win this the drinks are on me." That seemed to work. Dagger got their feet firmly on the ground now. It would take a disaster to uproot them.

Dagger's sniper managed to pick off two out of twelve chaos marines. Both had been shot through voxbox. Both marines packed heavy bolters which were now picked up by their comrades.

Steel had hard time covering both roles of the team, but still managed to drop three marines with sporadic fire, before he got shot in the head. Extra armor plating in the helmet merly stopped bolter round from creating exit wound. The ricochet inside his skull turned brain into mush. Steel was wiped out.

Two teams lost before iron managed to land direct hit on Rhino. Shell detonated on top where armor was at thinnest. Resulting power of the blast killed turret operator and knocked out the engine. Rhino was disabled.

"Iron resume firing at depot, we will mop up here with Dagger." Blackwell announced as he stood up from cover reloading his pistols. While fighting took place he was taking potshots at cultist nearest to his position. He even managed to wound one of them. 50 cal bullet shattered cultist's arm, disabling him from using his plasma rifle. Scythe gunned down the other heretic.

"Forward men, guts and glory." War cry from the 8 men of Scythe team answered Mike's call.

Counter charge was met with fire from remaining chaos marines. Seven bolter rifles cracked firing at Crow Guard. One by one Guardsmen fell. Then Blackwell got within grenade range.

Whole bandolier sailed through the air towards traitor marines. Six consecutive explosions disoriented and wounded the marines. Mike and three of his men got to 10 meter mark and let loose full fury of their armaments. Rapid fire of 50 cal bullets impacted dizzy foes. Blackwell was firing both handguns as fast as he could pull the triggers.

Remainder of Scythe gunned down three marines, while Blackwell put down one enemy who fell to his knee after grenade blast. The last three traitor got their bearings and responded in kind. One of the Scythe members failed to evade. He was bisected by bolter fire.

Last two Scythes hid behind disabled Rhino while Michael charged after discarding spent firearms. Power sword sung in the air decapitating one of the traitors. The other two switched targets to commander. One quick thrust severed another traitors throat and a couple of vertabreas. Lifeless body slumped in accompanied by clunking sound of his armor.

Large explosion signified detonation of depot, Iron team did as well as they could, now they were switching to the last building.

The distraction cost Blackwell, his foe fired remainder of the magazine in his general direction while on the move. Two rounds from bolter connected. Mike was wearing Dragonskin which was only flak armor. One shattered his collarbone while other punctured abdomen.

Pain, pain filled Mike's world. Then came anger. Fury beyond measure. Rage which could move mountains. That peace of shit dared to wound him. He. Will. Pay.

Despite pain Blackwell rushed at retreating foe with murder in his eyes. The power sword seemed to gain black hue. If you squinted you could see faint outline of black flames around Mike's body. Even though his goggles were polarized two red glowing dots appeared where his eyes were.

Michael skewered marine through. First in the abdomen. Cut to the left, liver cut up. Then he let go of the sword and slapped rifle out of traitors hands. Such feat would be impossible for normal human, but commander was a Wisp. A creation of exiled chaos god.

Punch after punch slowly dented marine's helmet as Blackwell let out his fury. His victim recognized that his tormentor was some kind of warp creation and attempted to plead for his life. He was utterly and completely ignored. The red haze of rage fueled Mike's desire to end traitor's life.

Last hit was a helmet breaker, along with helmet went marine's spine. The catharsis of the moment fell along with last mortar shell signifying the end of combat. Enemy headquarters were reduced to rubble. The victory was complete.

Even though he was shot the death of his last victim seemingly regenerated Blackwell's vitality. The wounds healed, bones mended and fatigue disappeared. Michael dismissed it all as game mechanic.

"Gather our boys, we leave none behind." Commander's last order was carried out in somber silence.

Next chapter. Consolidation and Politics.


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Finally beat Soroitas Stronghold. Two baneblades died making it happen. Don't get me started on that rocket tank of theirs. I really don't look forward to Necron battles. Back to the story. I try to keep it to M rating as anything above is likely to be reported and whole story trashed by moderators.

As always read, enjoy and review.

**CHAPTER 6. Consolidation and Politics.**

It took them two hours to gather bodies of Scythe, Steel and Dagger teams, burn out remnants of chaos taint. Grim realization fell upon young commander as he made the headcount. 85 % losses in a skirmish, half of which could be avoided if only he was more through with recon. Worse yet, he forgot about his other skill, the strafing run would have mopped up marines before they could do any damage to the Dagger.

It took another hour for techpriest to arrive, cleanse and repair Rhino transport. Mike's forces loaded bodies of their comrades into the APC and drove back home. Blackwell sat alone in the back of the vehicle staring at pale faces of his departed soldiers.

Guilt, anger self loathing. Cursing his stupidity Michael closed lids of Dagger's marksman, who, as far as Mike could tell, was staring accusatory at him. Tragedy. It is times like this that either forge the unbreakable will in a soldier, or break him like a toothpick.

New resolve filled Blackwell. He will not make any more stupid mistakes from now on. He will not assume anything. He will not charge head first without knowing the consequences.

Something deep inside him urged to make a drastic move. Blackwell listened. He took out his combat knife out of its holster and slashed his palm. Life liquid fell upon metal floor.

"I will take care of my men, I will be better commander and I will break anything and anyone standing in my way. Any who worship chaos will feel the breath of death and I shall be her instrument. I vow this now to all of you whom I failed." Blood oath complete. Empty eyes staring back at the officer, no longer accusing but understanding. Inner peace has been achieved.

Rhino halted inside his compound. Remnants of the group which took part in battle walked out and started to carry corpses. Hammer team already received update on fuck up that happened. Rows upon rows of graves were dug out behind main barracks.

Hammer members helped survivors, gave them smokes, offered condolences. Tried to keep everything from falling to pieces. Morale took big hit, despite the victory.

Once everybody disembarked the vehicle Michael order techpriests to dismantle it. Base repairs, unit recruitment put sizeable dent in his requisition reserves. Both depots were nearly empty and Blackwell still needed to recuperate his losses.

He found out that each region has specific drop zones. Drop zones which receive regular shipments of requisition resources. Munitions, replacement parts, prefabricated components, medical supplies and so on and so forth.

Right now the whole sector was clear of the enemies. Chaos lords lost eastern entry into the Victory Bay. That alone would lessen the strain of main Imperial forces. They can focus on one front. Also that fact gave Mike opportunity to secure resource zones for himself. Build listening posts to defend them and accumulate fuel for his growing war machine.

"It has been done" Techpriest announced the completion of his task. Blackwell in turn received nice lump sum of requisition which was displayed in blue. Power in turn was green and manpower yellow. There was third resource, but it was individual for every unit commander included. Power's red display allowed units to utilize their special abilities at a significant cost.

The salvage of APC also unlocked blueprints for Chimera APC native to Imperial forces. As his outpost lacked mechanized headquarters, he was unable to produce any. Modification options on the other hand were still available.

Mike kept stock look of the chassis. Changes started with armor thickness and passenger capacity. Commander reduced troop limit that will fit inside Chimera to two squads, from previous three. It was necessary sacrifice for the additional armor plating and increase in horsepower of the engine. Mass to power ratio had to be retained. Another change was the replacement turret on top of the APC. The Dome shape of turret was retained however the rapid firing lasgun had to go. New armament was dependent on the type. Blackwell went for three variants of this unit as he did for Heavy Weapons Team.

First was Armadillo variant. Extra gunnery slots for infantry hidden inside the machine gave it 279 degreed of effective firing arc. Eight in total, four on both left and right side. The turret was packing 30 mm autocannon loaded with fragmentation rounds. Chassis was modified to double as amphibious transport.

Next came Samaritan, mobile hospital and only Chimera abandoning black and tan color scheme that 1337th used in favor of full white coat of paint and red cross on all sides.. The turret used plasma repeater weapon which was basically modified plasma rifle. Samaritan was preloaded with combat medic squad that disembarked to carry wounded soldiers inside the APC and patch them up. Mobile triage center. Once 9 men were stored and healed inside the carrier, they would be released as auxiliary squad to supplement existing fighting force.

Last came Badger, it was engineer vehicle with limited anti tank capabilities. The machine had 57 mm autocannon filled with armor piercing rounds. Two groups of techpriests to assist repair and constructions duties. It also had mine dispenser in the back which allowed it lay down scorpion anti tank mines as well as pineapple anti infantry munition system. Smart mines in other words. Front of the Badger was equipped with bulldozer addon which allowed it to move obstacles out of its way.

Michael started to feel agitated. On one hand he wanted to start production of these support vehicles on the other hand the cost of building which would allow for the process to begin exceeded his construction capability. He had to get drop zones.

"Hammer take one tech with you and start securing beacons near nav points marked on your HUD. Techpriests will set up listening posts there so we will know where supply drops come in. Dismissed." Hammer squad walked out of the base accompanied by technician, all headed eastward toward nearest drop point.

Time came to address shaken survivors of his last operations. Burial rites finished some time ago, but his troop's mind lingered on the death that took others away. Their friends and comrades in arms.

Blackwell walked into his quarters, approached the cabinet that help previous leader's alcoholic treasures and picked up two bottles of, as far as he could tell high quality liquors. Promise was given, a primes he intended to keep, if only to clear his conscience a bit.

Next destination was the cantina inside the barracks. The remnants of Dagger team were mourning the losses. Iron guys were depressed. Blackwell pulled one of the free chairs and sat next to Dagger. He put two bottles of Cadian Whisky and motioned for mortar team to join.

"I am deeply sorry for the fuck up that happened. I take full responsibility for it. Tonight it was supposed to be a celebration of victory. Instead it is a vigil for those that fell. Their sacrifice is not in vain, they helped us win against horrors of the warp." Micheal opened both bottles and poured drinks in the survivor's cups.

"They fell knowing well that they will be ones that the Emperor will look at. That HE will honor them. As far as I am concerned they are equal to space marines as HIS favorites. We give them our farewell. Even though they left they will be forever immortalized in our memory." Blackwell raised his glass which prompted the rest to do the same.

"Honor the dead, fight for the living." A toast was made, the mood in the room slightly improved. Soldiers were no longer as tense as before. The conversation turned a little bit brighter, as soldiers told the tales of their comrades. The vigil continued till late at night.

**Pavonian Heartlands OUTPOST PATER 0800 hrs.**

The following morning was welcomed by moans and dry throats commonly present in aftermath of heavy drinking. Blackwell severely underestimated the potency of alcoholic beverage. It took him a full hour to get himself together and arrive at cafeteria where others were already nursing steaming cups of caf.

Today Dagger was due to receive replacements. It was intriguing how quickly Mike saw his men as something more than a fragment of coding he thought them to be. Quick exchange of welcomes and small talk was followed by report from Hammer. They secured all designated drop zones and techpriest set up automated listening posts. Technician also installed heavy stubber emplacements in those posts.

According to the fleet communication first drop for new zones was scheduled at 1200 hours today. Rough estimate of inbound supplies allowed commander to start working on mechanized units. First on the list were replacements. They were already awaiting at the rally point in front of the barracks.

Blackwell let original Dagger team to smoothen the transition for greenhorns. That brought second revelation of the day. Squads also gained experience and leveled up. It was restricted to four levels. Greenhorn for new recruits, regulars for units with some combat experience under their belt. Battle hardened for those with multiple accomplished combat missions and finally veterans people who lived and breathed war. With each level came significant improvements in statistics and new skills. For example Dagger managed to gain Regular status and got satchel charges. They could be a demolition team. As for the stats, well their weapons seem to have gained status of modified. When he looked deeper into it, commander found gas accelerated loading mechanism which greatly improved their fire rate. Also their flak armor become custom job. Additional ceramic plating helped to reduce incoming damage. No more one hit kills.

Blackwell was nursing his second cup of caf, desperate to defeat intangible foe, the hangover. His mind was pierced by thousand needles of pain as alarm beeped from his PDA updating him with a nature of emergency, courtesy of the fresh built listening post .

Commander saw unknown armored column approaching from the east. That way lay Victory Bay. He immediately recognized Chimera APCs and Hellhound as well as Banewolf IFVs. That meant either reinforcements from Imperial seat of influence on this planet, or evacuation. Hoping for the best preparing for the worst young commander order Hammer team to accompany him. He was merciful enough to let other teams weather down killer hangover that plagued them. His was not easy to suffer either, but what can you do.

As soon as his forces got within visual range of the column, a single armored car broke away speeding towards them. Appearance wise it looked like a Humvee scout car popular in US army. That is if you didn't see glowing tube of heavy meltagun mounted on top. The gunner looked like a member of Krieg death corps.

A man in commissar uniform stepped out of the car. He wore black trenchcoat, red commissar hat, grey gasmask and dark brown combat boots. He waved his hands at Blackwell beckoning him forth.

As soon as Mike stepped forward he recognized the other person as fellow player. Something in the aura that the other officer exuded screamed kindred sprit to him. A fellow Wisp.

"I am commander Marcus Brandt of 8th Armored Company Krieg detachment, we request asylum in your territory. Sir." Deep baritone voice was addressed Michael.

"What happened? Are you coming from Victory Bay?" Blackwell asked as looked at worn out vehicles of the other Wisp. Bullet holes and scorched armor plating was visible on every single machine. Some were missing turrets and whole armor sections. There were also non standard machines. Humvees, quadrupled sentinel lookalikes and double barreled tanks on a chassis that Mike did not recognize.

"Victory Bay has fallen." Grim finality of that statement hit young commander like a power fist.

Situation turned beyond dire.

Next chapter. Vailant Defense.


	7. Opening ARC I

AN: Here is something that has been rocking my brain for better part of the week. An intermission between the chapters. I hate to leave a cliffhanger, however I am on the last official day of leave. Tomorrow I have to pack up and get back to my unit by 18:00. Official duties resume on 20th. From then on updates will be less often. As for last couple days I got together with old friends from school and went drinking. Pub crawling is fun exercise, but aftermath not so much. So yeah last Sunday I was treating massive hangover.

_**Lyrics**_

(camera position)

Now here is the content. Read, enjoy and review.

**ARC I OPENING **

**SONG: Offspring – Defy you.**

(Music begins)

Some battle torn grassland appears after black screen. It is night time. Bodies of Chaos soldiers, Orc troops and Imperial Guardsmen litter the landscape. Tracer round could be seen in the background. Husks of Rhino transports, chaos Predators and Defilers are scattered on the battlefield. Along those burned out looted Leman Russ tanks and Wartrucks dot the field. Imperial Chimeras, Sentinel wrecks burning bright in the night.

(Camera moves to the right.)

_**You may push me around but you cannot win,**_

Crow Guard soldiers are seen falling to the ground as Chaos Havocs rip them with heavy bolter. Blood sprays from the wounds, droplets spiraling through the air in slow motion.

(Camera centers on the drop of blood)

_**You may throw me down but Ill rise again,**_

Blood falls on the polarized goggles. Time resumes to normal. Gloved hand wipes the blood off the googles.

(Camera pans out)

_**The more you say, the more I defy you,**_

Blackwell is shown in his whole glory. Black combat boots stepped on the ork boy carcass. Tan Dragonskin flak vest is stained with red life liquid. Bandages and beret are stained red from blood and covered in black soot.

Michael pulls out AT4 pistol and aims at the traitor marine responsible for the Guardsmen's death. HE pulls the trigger and 50 cal bullet sails, cutting through the air.

(Camera follows bullet in slow motion)

_**So get out of my face, yeaah**_

Bullet impacts Havoc gunner's eyehole. Impact spins traitor around as his hands loose grip on heavy bolter. The imposing figure of traitor astrates crumbles face first into the bloody mud.

(Scene switch back to Blackwell)

_**You cannot stop us, you cannot bring us down,**_

Scores of Crow Guard and Kriegans rush past Blackwell followed by armored units. Ground shakes beneath hundreds of steel tipped boots and massive threads of war machines.

_**Never give up we go on and on,**_

Commander Brandt drives by in huge tank saluting his fellow commander, he is halfway visible sticking out of the commander's hatch. He still wears his black trench coat and commissar cap. Grey facemask hides his face and polycarbon fiber vest could be seen hidden beneath the coat.

Tank looks like a cross between Baneblade and German world war two machine called Maus. White paint depicts side of the turret –" Die Ameise". Two 105 mm barrels stick out from the front of the turret. Sides of the turret are adnorned with 20 mm heavy bolters. Two hull mounted 40 mm autocannon threaten all that stands in front of the huge metal beast.

(Camera switches to the brid eye view)

_**You'll never break us, never bring us down,**_

Whole battlefield now can be seen. Imperial forces attack Chaos fortifications in droves; Michael is seen leading the charge. Tungsten tracers pierce wooden barricades and rubble. Both sides take heavy losses.

_**We are alive.**_

First rows of imperial forces reach lines of the enemy fortifications. Red tongues of flamethrowers light up. Flaming figures are seen running around screaming as fire consumes their flesh. Tanks drive past infantry smashing barricades and running over fleeing chaos forces. Blazing turrets sending huge chunks of earth up in the air. Flashing muzzles of machine guns send volley of rounds into the cowards backs.

(Scene change)

_**The wind blows, Ill lean into the wind,**_

Same battlefield, it is a break of dawn. Blackwell is seen standing on top of destroyed Predator tank. Loose bandages flap in the wind. Commander scarred and blackened face is partially visible. Lit cigarette hangs limply from officer's lips.

_**My angle grows, I'll use it to win,**_

Marcus climbs on top of the demolished tank's turret and stands next to Blackwell. He hands him a bottle of alcohol and Mike accepts.

(camera pans to show the background behind the commanders)

_**The more you say, the more I defy you  
So get out of my way,**_

All Imperial forces are standing at ready in neat rows behind their officers. Lines of battle hardened veterans and tankmen await their next orders. The sun rises slowly behind Guardsmen illuminating them. Along with imperial forces the horde of orks advancing towards the Imperials.

(Scene change)

_**All my will  
All my strength**_

Some undisclosed location in the Warp. Anomalies twist reality and flashes of mini nebulas brighten red miasma of the warp. A current of warp floats before the camera. Two red orbs slowly open with bright crimson flash.

_**Rip it out  
Start again**_

Red eyes without iris or pupil, only sclera, stare directly at the camera. White razor sharp teeth appear out of nowhere, as did the eyes, and twist in the grotesque grin. Pitch black tendrils of warp energy sneak towards the camera from the entity's direction.

(Scene change)

_**You cannot stop us, you cannot bring us down,**_

Black haze, in the shape of flames, surrounds both commanders as well as the rest of the Imperial forces. In place where their eyes should be, the red balls of light appear. Both lenses of the gasmask and visor of goggles show glowing rubies of energy.

_**Never give up we go on and on,**_

The commanders lead the counter charge. They close in fast on the enemy horde. Black embers trace behind them and their forces as they advance. The orkz stop dumbfounded at the Imperial actions. Some show outright fear.

_**You'll never break us, never bring us down,**_

Both sides clash against each other. Blood, guts and limbs fly through the air. Screams of rage and pain echo again on the battlefield. Ork boy's head sail briefly in front of the camera.

_**We are alive.**_

Camera centers on the closing figure. It is Blackwell. Power sword in hand the commander jumps high in the air and brings down the sword on top of the camera.

(music fades away as screen turns black)

AN:

Next we go back to the main story, this is the theme I will be using for first official arc of the story.


	8. Chapter 7

AN: Fallen-Ryu has requested me to add his character into this story. I have all your details mate and will do in a plot compliant way. So yeah next chapter. In this one you will have to settle on a honorable mention.

That request also opened a new avenue this story can take. I will accept reader chars as long as you don't go way overpowered with them. That is reserved for last arc of the story which will include….

Oops almost gave you a spoiler there.

If you want to contact me there is option to do it through review, PM or just send me email. I will need appearance, psychological profile, forces description and composition. Warp influence is one of the main plot lines here so please if you want to be included here be somewhat corruption wise complaint.

As always read, enjoy and review.

**CHAPTER 7. Valiant Defense**

**Pavonian Heartlands OUTPOST PATER 1200 hrs.**

Loud ping signified finalization of the requisition acquirement. Resource was divided into two types; regional, available only for the sector which was recipient of the transport and global for planet wide operations. Global requisition was merely 10 percent of regional resource drop however with more sectors under faction control the percentage increased. Each territory was worth additional 5 percent.

Blackwell had enough resources to top up all three of his depots. At that time he had only three squads but quick placement and requisition transfer queued up additional four general infantry squads and three more heavy weapon teams. Techpriests were working double time to set up mechanized command headquarters where vehicles were assembled.

Two new heavy bolter turrets were under construction overlooking road leading to the Victory Bay. Crow guard and Kriegans were digging trenches along the lines and new builders started to lay minefield in front of the trenches.

The infusion of soldiers and heavy armor coming from former Imperial capital sped the process along. 8th Armored was undergoing repairs. Their most exhausted troops took some much needed rest and relaxation in the new barracks.

Everything and more in preparation of the onslaught, that was sure to come knocking on their doorstep. Fleet gave a sitrep concerning their current predicament. Chaos forces split in half. One detachment marched towards Pavonian Heartlands. Other retreated back to the Deimos Peninsula to combat the greenskins assault.

Even after losses reported from taking the Imperial location the forces of chaos heading towards Imperial's last stand posed significant threat. The fallout for such a massive defeat was terrifying for general Alexander. He has been reassigned to Kurava sector in disgrace. No new leader has been yet elected. All remaining forces were ordered to hold the line and retake Victory Bay at all cost.

While Titan cannon has been lost, the well developed infrastructure of that location allowed to fuel army in time of war. Massive manufactories pumped out enough equipment to arm whole regiment. It was imperative for Empire's bravest to retake that place, their continued survival depended on it.

Blackwell sat in his command center, his fellow commander pointed at the holomap describing possible entry points into their, soon to be, stronghold. It took them roughly two hours after the initial meeting to get every newcomer settled in barracks and devise a plan to effectively defend the territory.

Marcus was a silent man, he believed actions speak louder than words. He got his nose bloodied in the siege of Victory Bay. The officer claimed he was thrown into the deep water. It was either sink or swim situation for Brandt. His total losses included one super heavy Ant type tank which was a modified Baneblade, fourteen Humvee scout vechcles, eight Sentinel Leapfrog modifications and scores of Chimera APCs and Hellhounds along with Banewolves IFVs. As far as infantry casualties were concerned, it was a massacre roughly three quarters of his infantry were KIA only handful were fit for duty and rest were severely wounded. Rest of the vehicles were in dire need of repairs. Damaged plating, malfunctioning engine, inoperable turret, jammed weapon, weakened tracks and countless other problems plagued surviving armored forces.

Between Michael and Marcus they had two platoons worth of general and support infantry. Roughly two hundred troops. Five functioning Chimeras and one Samaritan variant in working condition, three Hellhounds with damaged armor plating and dozen Humvee scout cars. The Ant was an ace in the hole for Imperials. It was already camouflaged behind the frontline.

They had defensive plan, hold the redline. A line which went across the road leading towards the outpost. If the line is breached retreat toward the ramp under Ants cover. First priority is to disable enemy armor then whittle down assorted infantry and conjured demons. Simple. At least here on paper.

The bright idea is to keep the plan as simple as possible to avoid as many fuck ups as possible. Both commanders knew that even if they prepared for all possibilities the plan will need adjustments at moment notice. The simpler the idea the easier it is to adapt it to the circumstance.

"This is a bloody nightmare, sometimes I forget this whole thing is not real." Blackwell grumbled, as he lit another smoke. Brunt out cigarettes littered cold, grey floor of prefabricated building.

"I know. Ich bin mude, sorry I reverted back to my native language mein Freund. I am tired of all of this." Marcus sighed as he stared into the red blob representing advancing Chaos. His glare could almost melt the taint. Key word almost.

"How, for fucks sake, all of this happened? It was supposed to be slow and steady approach, not going balls deep in the war one is not prepared for." Mike cursed wildly gesticulating with lit ciggy. Embers flew from the sudden motion landing on the holomap.

"I already told you, we need to focus on the consequences here, unless you want to go back to incorporeal form and start from the beginning." Marcus bit back bitterly, reminiscing how one of the new commanders got cocky. Noob got himself and two squads of infantry killed in meaningless charge. Afterwards his body turned to dust and grey smoke coalesced into a ball. The ball floated for a few seconds and then disappeared in a red portal.

Michael sighed took a long drag on the half broken death stick and remembered the conversation they had couple hour ago.

_FLASHBACK_

"I can get you and your people patched up, maybe give you some accommodation while we are at it. How did that happen?" Blackwell and Brandt were driving towards the outpost in Humvee. Crow guard was helping survivors limp towards their new home. Some were in bad shape, but it was expected out of Kriegs Death Corps to take massive losses. It was also expected of them to complete the objective, no matter the cost.

That was what any pure Kriegan officer would do, go down with the ship and go down swinging. Marcus had more pragmatic view of life. Why risk all for no apparent gain, while you can retreat, reinforce and then return with overwhelming force. Problem lay with the fact that Imperial forces on Kronus were mostly centered in the Victory Bay. No one could help him as everyone was using up resources from the same source and most users were woefully incompetent when it came to warfare. Now he had a chance.

"We landed in the Victory Bay on launch day. There were around forty odd wisps there. We commanded forces small enough and located in places which were disregarded in the confusion of the siege." Marcus looked out of the window while explaining everything to Blackwell.

"I took a post in mechanized unit near artillery position overlooking the bridge which led into the heart of the city. Built up my forces there with few others. Most of our guys died in the first day. Dunno how respawn system works, but I don't intend to find out." Armor commander carried on taking out flask out of the inner pocket of his trench coat.

"There were some competent guys that really hindered Chaos, one of them worked in the airforce. Ich glaube seiner Name war Nefron. Oh sorry I am German, I sometimes fall back on mein Muttersprache." Marcus shrugged sheepish at the reaction of his fellow wisp to the foreign language.

"No worries. Do you know how it fell?" Blackwell was intrigued, the information could prove to be crucial in chaos removal operation that he was planning.

"Cultist squads infiltrated the City through marsh passage. Afterwards they assassinated Gebbett, the commissar overseeing 5th Company. Bastards went full turncoat on the rest of us. I saw them coordinating with chaos traitors to take out Titan cannon." Brandt took swing from the flask. Pleasant burn of hard liquor helped to wash away the bitter taste guardsmen turncoats left in his mouth.

"I choose that moment to get my Arsch in gear and get away from that place. I think I saw some Valkyrie drop ships lifting off with some fighter escort, but as far as survivors go that is it. I had to pay attention to the blockade Chaos set up for runners like me. Lost a lot of my boys there, more than half of my toys got turned into scrap while getting here." Bitterness in the officers voice was so thick it could almost be tasted.

"Lucas Alexander lost his command privileges, post on Kronus and a couple medals. Others lost their lives. Hardly fair trade, but I intend to even the score. First I will tear neue Arschloch in diese verfluchte Schweine. Then I will take this Planet. I will need your help for that mein Fruend." Panzer commander stared into reflective surface of the other officers googles. His gaze pierced through the fabric and deep into the soul of the other wisp.

"I also have a bone to pick up with these wankers, you can count me in. As for the planet, it will be nice to have a base of operations for future conquests." That reply cemented a beginning of an alliance that would shatter the foundations of the universe.

_FLSHBACK END_

**Pavonian Heartlands, Thin Red Line T – 0010 hrs.**

Everything was set up. Vehicles were hidden behind the small hills, drivers and gunners standing ready. Kriegan and Crow Guard infantry took cover in deep trenches, heavy weapon teams positioned themselves in special nests made of sandbags and wooded logs; masked with camouflage nets . Single artillery crew zeroed in on the main point of the approach that enemy will likely take. Whole line was surrounded by barbed wire and tank traps. Only access points were turned into kill zones.

Two fresh heavy bolter turrets were upgraded with spare armor plating. Armor which while crudely welded together with blowtorch, provided extra protection. The plating came from hopeless machines that could only be salvaged for spare parts and requisition.

Kriegan specialists set up IED in strategic locations. Satchels filled to brim with high yield explosive payload were half buried in dirt. Squad leaders held on to the detonators. Flammenwerfer crews that Krieg Corps used hid around the bends that the maze of trenches provided.

Shotgun equipped corpsmen of 8th armored lingered around access points. Other holding one time use panzerfaust rocket propelled grenades with melta payload. Crow infantry marksmen scanned the field with their coil sniper rifles. Crows totting Rakow rifles with underbarrel grenade tube sat on the ground in trenches waiting to spring into the action at moment notice.

Blackwell stood on the boulder overlooking whole area of operation, the ever present smoke hung from his lips. Binoculars in hand, eyes set firmly on the setting sun. The enemy is supposed to show up at any moment.

"This is Razor, come in Sledge." Communication from fellow commander, waiting in the confine of his heavy battle tank, invaded Blackwell ears.

"This is Sledge, it is quiet here, a silence before storm. Everything is Oscar Kilo. Orange condition is in effect." The designations were in place to mislead enemy listening to the vox chatter, if only slightly. Orange condition was code for full battle readiness. Oscar Kilo was a mere OK. Let chaos bastards wonder what that meant.

"This is Linker, we have movement on the horizon. Our sharpshooter is confirming ID." Radio chatter started to filter through the channels.

"Charlies confirmed. Estimate around one thousand assorted combatants." The other party was clearly visible in the twilight of the setting sun.

"Chain here, we spotted Rhino transports and Predator tanks. They are hauling ass here. One Landraider is moving behind hostiles. Looks like Phobos variant." Another team with designated marksman reported similar movements all across the operation area.

"Sledge to all marksmen start picking off targets at long distance. Once Charlies enter the Lawn we proceed to phase two. Confirm." Blackwell updated orders through the vox channels and received pings in set code. Two short beeps for confirm, two long signals for negative.

First 20 mm slugs fell chaos terminators who were dumb enough to walk around without helmets on. Next volley targeted heavy weapon specialists among chaos marines. The initial losses spurred enemy into charge led by Berserkers. Once traitor marines entered effective weapon range they started to return fire while advancing.

Enemy army was supported by Rhinos and Predators. Bolter fire and cannon round torn earth and fortifications apart. One lucky shot from predator impacted the heavy weapons nest. Suffice to say the detonation erased minigun team. Then infantry moved into turret and heavies range. Blood and gore flew in to the air as barrage of bullets torn bodies asunder.

Next came heavies with recoilless rifles. First rpgs gutted two Rhinos. One of the rockets blew tracks off in the leading Predator tank. Second volley finished crippled beast as it rend its armor and detonated ammo rack.

The fire that answered from the chaos lines started to get more and more accurate as scores of Imperials fell with holes in their bodies. Explosive shells detonated on turrets damaging their super structure. Heavy bolters mounted on them glowed hot from constant fire. Mortar team had to retreat once their weapon melted from stray plasma shot.

Cover was scarce and victims mounted for warp tainted creatures. Heaviest casualties could be reported among lightly armored cultists, but they gave as good as they got. Crow Guard was reduced to half of its fighting strength, Kriegans suffered two thirds of their collective losses.

Samaritan APC was constantly zooming around trench lines, combat medics carried wounded into the carriers compartment and the vehicle sped away to base to deposit wounded in care of specialists.

It took chaos two more volleys from Predators to completely demolish remaining heavy weapon nests. One of the autocannon heavies managed to jam Predator turret before he was sent flying. The Guardsmans body landed in front of the trench where Blackwell took cover.

"Rolling thunder, I repeat rolling thunder. Send those wankers back to hell." Michael shouted into the vox.

The fireworks as multiple IEDs exploded under advancing armys feet were nothing short of spectacular. The effect on the enemy was less so. The detonation only took out one Rhino APC and two marine squads. At this stage of battle cultists were dead and gone blown up on the mines before the trenches. They served their purpose as a cannon fodder.

"Send in Hummers and K9s. Get Leapfrogs to do hot and run on their armor." As if on cue the armored forces which were so far in the reserve sprung into action.

Leapfrogs were a modification of Sentinel walker which was a quadruped mech with ability to jump some distance after taking a running start. They packed twin linked lascannon. Main disadvantage of this unit was paper thin armor. It could stop bolter round, but everything else was a threat to the machine.

The initial counter was a success. Chaos marines melted in the fiery inferno of the hellhounds or fell twitching after treatment from Banewolf chemcannon. Leapfrogs trampled traitors beneath their metal feet and gutted chaos APCs. Hummers circled around the infantry firing bursts of plasma bolts into the enemy ranks.

Then enemy revealed their anti-armor capabilities. First roared the missile launchers from chaos marines. Then remaining predators opened up with their main cannons. Finally two bright red lances of heavy laser cut through the air.

"LANDRAIDER!" One of the Kriegans occupying trench to the left of the commander screamed.

The results were devastating. Hummers fell apart as soon as a missile hit them, it didn't help that those were heat seeking projectiles. Leapfrogs fell to the side under cannon fire. Smoking wrecks acting as the coffin for their occupants. Banewolf burst into green chemical cloud as one of the Landraiders beam destroyed fusion reactor which reached critical mass. Second laser shot seared through the left flank of the trenches, cooking flamethrower Krieg Guardsmen alive. Hellhounds blew up spraying jellied napalm like liquid.

"Enemy at the gates, proceed with phase three. Condition red is in effect. Sledge out." That was official order for a fighting retreat. Imperial forces were supposed to slowly retreat towards awaiting Chimeras and ride back to base where last line of defense was set up. The Ant was supposed to cover them and seeing how Landraider Phobos was gutting Wisps forces it was a necessity.

"Razor get moving. We need those cannons of yours." Blackwell shouted as bolter rounds from Terminator squad ripped earth around his cover. Two big blasts were heard and chaos Terminators were reduced to chunks of armor and bloody strips of meat.

"Ich verstehe. Ameise angriff!" Brandt responded as armaments of the super heavy tanks roared in defiance at the approaching enemy units. Autocannons proved to be much more effective then machinegun fire. Chaos marines started to fall like flies. Terminators took some more beating from autoguns before they crumbled. Predators and Rhinos were speared with heat munitions reducing once formidable machines into the scrap junk.

105 mm cannons bellowed again targeting advancing Landraider. Both shells bounced off the thick armor. Return fire tracked Imperial tank stopping it completely. Second Volley from Ant destroyed Hurricane bolter and one Laser cannon of the Landraider. Another shot of las cannon soeared through the lower plate destroying suspension and setting engine on fire.

"Scheisse, we are down, hope you got everyone out. I'm bailing out. Razor out." Marcus announced through the vox and fled burning tank. He sprinted along with rest of the panzer crew toward the Chimeras.

Chimera fallback point was bustling in activity. Kriegans and Crows were packing remaining gear inside and getting wounded settled inside APCs. Samaritan was packed to the brim with critically injured soldiers.

"Sledge you are last one, get going." Armor commander shouted through the vox to the fellow Wisp.

"Not before I've given them farewell gift." Blackwell muttered as he clutched detonator waiting for the damaged Landraider. Once Phobos reached intended point Mike let go of the trigger. What detonated was a special IED designed to take out heavy mechaines. Underside of the Landraider was poorly armored compared to the front and sides of the beast. Thus the sudden infusion of pinpoint molten copper via point blank explosion resulted in detonation of power cells fueling monsters main weapons. Following resonance cascade ripped the machine in two. Front of the tank drove for a couple of meters with its momentum before falling silent forever.

"How do you like that bloody shit stains!" Mike taunted shaken enemy from the confine of the trench. The answer was a fire from one of the predators which sent Michael flying out of the trench. Blackwell landed face first in the mud goggles cracked, beret missing and body wracked with pain. He struggled to stand and stumbled to the nearest cover which was a wreckage of the bolter turret.

Stray bolter shot hit commander in the gut. Impact made him hit the wall of building. He slid down to the ground until he was sitting back to the wall. Red stain on the surface marked his descent. Blackwell unholstered his pistol and started firing blindly into approaching mass of chaos.

"I'm done for lads, get back home and start phase four. That is order." Wisp muttered to the vox receptacle and clutched bleeding wound. There was some chatter on the vox, panic started to creep into the hearts of his soldiers. He had to stop that. Trickle of blood escaped his lips staining bandaged around his face red.

"GO! DON'T HESITATE! NO REMORSE, NO REGRET!" Blackwell screamed to the survivors as he spotted approaching Predator. The tank was barreling straight towards. Mike slid the receiver of the gun and fired shot, after shot, after shot into the corrupted tank.

Suddenly the machine burst in flames. Vox erupted in chatter which wounded officer couldn't decipher. Overhead a flight of Thunderbolts flew over, unloading their weapons at chaos forces. New voice broke through the traffic of communication and red haze that was blurring Michaels vision.

"Looks like you fellas need some help."

###########################

Next chapter. Hell on Wings.

I found out that there is a collaboration fanfic that has sibling idea called The Gamer Effect by Bazerkerking set in Mass Effect universe. If you like my idea that one might interest you.

Take care.


	9. Chapter 8

AN: Still alive if barely. Our officers are sadistic bastards, however we kinda deserved that last punishment. We may have procured some equipment from storage without official approval. Ok now you have my excuse for absence. Fun times ahead of us…

On with the chapter. As always read, enjoy and review.

**CHAPTER 8. Hell on Wings**

**Pavonian Heartlands. Red Line T+0100 hrs.**

Newly arrived back up made another pass on the remaining chaos forces in the area. Some of the marines managed to clear kill zone and made it into the trenches. Missiles with melta warhead streaked through the air vaporizing remaining tank and armored personnel carries. Plumes of black smoke marked departure of demons responsible for the functioning of the machines. Traitors too slow to escape were turned inside out by auto cannon fire from fighters in the air.

One Raptor squad jumped using their jetpacks which proved to be their last mistake. Air to air missiles were launched from pylons on the Thunderbolts wings. Detonation ripped their targets apart. Chunks of armor and torn limbs landed on the ground along with the shower of blood.

Two of the Valkyrie dropships landed on the opposite site of the trenches effectively boxing in remaining traitors. As soon as they touched down they unleashed staggering amount of over hundred conscripts. Any hope for retreat or victory were crushed as second squadron of Thunderbolts approached from west.

"This is Red Leader we are on attack vector 4, bearing 270. Torching designated grid." Second quintet of fighters strafed trenches where the highest concentration of demons and marines was located. Napalm like substance burst roughly ten meters above the earth covering everything it touched in liquid death.

Screams of agony and wails of banished demons saturated the air. Burning marines rolled franticly on the ground trying to extinguish flames and rub napalm off. Demons trashed around running like headless chickens fueled by pain of being roasted alive.

Vox channel was silent, everyone present was in awe of the sheer destruction that newcomers unleashed. Desolation of both land and living beings was beyond any magnitude. Then cheers and jeers filled in the place where silence once was.

"Look really close scum. This is your final destination. I will burn out ever last bit of your vile being. BURN IN HELL!" Forthecho half screamed half laughed looking at his forces masterpiece. The flames were tickling the air as if the very essence of reality was touched by flames. Charred bodies could barely be seen through the wall of flames.

Blackwell rested where he lay shot by stray bullet. He couldn't help but laugh. Laughter full of insanity. Cackle of madman. Wailing pink horror rushed past him covered in fire. It looked like a fireball on legs. The demon tripped and fell short of the infantry commander, it tried to roll around. Blackwell staggered to his feet and walked over to the writhing abomination. Another round was already chambered in his gun.

"When you meet your master tell him Blackwell is coming for him. Vea Victis." Michael intoned and put one tungsten slug right between the eyes of the demon. As soon as body of his adversary started to fall apart, when material realm could no longer sustain demons continued existence, some slight black haze surrounded Mike's abdomen wound. He felt better, it was the same situation as when he was injured in his first battle.

Then haze intensified covering rest of Blackwell's body, red coals shone through the goggles. The very thought that these cockroaches tried to take from him sent commander over the edge, into the pit of endless rage. Cold fury washed over the infantry officer. Those assholes came at his doorstep to fuck with him, in his own home. For the insult he received, payment in blood will he give.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOT LOOKING AT GO GET THEM! TURN AROUND AND FIGHT OR DO I HAVE TO KILL EVERYONE LAST OF THEM MESELF!" Blackwell roared into the vox putting, pardon the pun, fire under his force's collective asses.

Chimeras with wounded had their priority to take care of them but rest of the forces made U turn and drove straight back into the breach. The orders along with sheer volume of destruction wrought upon chaos brought inspiration on Kriegans and Crows. Some of the braver ones jumped out of the APCs before they skid to stop. As soon as troops left the steel confines of the machines new wave of bullets slammed into the suppressed positions of the traitors.

On the other side wave of conscripts moved towards wall of flames extinguishing life of any survivor with laser fire and fragmentation grenades. Even demons can be banished if enough firepower is applied. Nefron did another two strafing runs on chaos positions in the trenches scoring couple more kills before he was forced to head towards the outpost on the horizon. Sole reason was the lack of ammunition.

While Thunderbolts were good fighter aircraft they lacked in two fields. One was armor the other ammunition capacity. They had enough pylons to support twelve rockets, both air to ground and air to air types, as well as four napalm canisters underneath the fuselage. Dual twin linked cannons had only 1200 rounds and in heat of battle they run dry very, very fast.

"I did my part folks, I am heading to your base to rearm, names Nefron Forthecho and I am the airman from Victory Bay. Oy is that Marcus I hear? You lucky bastard you made it! Meet me in the base so we can swap tales." Air force commander broadcasted through the vox channels as glanced back at the fire spreading along the trench lines. Some sadistic glee sparked in his eyes as he saw armored hulks of a marines stumble and fall in the sea of fire.

"Will do Nef, Ich habe klein Problem hier. My Panzer is disabled and I am waiting for engineer crew to fix it. I am not leaving without my beauty hier. I Will see you in base. Let the ground troops mop up stragglers." Brandt responded over the vox sitting on his disabled Ant tank.

Gloved hand lovingly tracing scars on the tank's armor. Normally he would have quite a fit of anger if he saw his machine in that state. He would rush Landraider with grenade in hand, but pride of doing so much damage on supposedly superior machine calmed his nerves. The fact that Blackwell completely demolished his foe afterward set him at ease. Quick sip of of his flask brought sense of calm. For Marcus this fight was over.

Blackwell on the other hand was wading deep in blood and gut filled trenches, one hand clutching his power sword the other grasping AT4 pistol. Any Marine daring to stand in his wave become his next victim. Any demon crossing his path was just another messenger for its master as Mike banished it with blade.

Another traitor tried to bash commander with butt of the rifle, but Blackwell battered offending weapon out of traitor's hands and shot him with practiced movement in the kneecaps. Once kneeling in pain the marine glanced at his tormentor only to see descending power sword going for his neck.

Stifled shout of fright was cut short as flesh and bone gave under sharp edge of the tool of war. Helmeted head flown through the air for the brief period before it was sent careening towards next chaos marine with powerful kick.

Next foe was a little bit further, thus he had time to aim and fire his bolter at the wisp. Or would have if the severed head of his comrade didn't impact his faceplate. One moment to get his bearing was enough for Blackwell to close the distance and impale traitor in the chest right where his heart should be. Mike knew space marines were resilient bastards with extra organs to keep them going.

Blackwell put another hand still gripping his pistol on the handle of the sword for extra force. With creak of metal and squelch of parting flesh the sword slowly tore through the marine sideways. Eventually sharp instrument exit soon to be dead marine. Heart spine and several other vital organs along with dozen of veins and arteries were ruptured. Blood pooled inside enemy's armor, some of it flowing out in crimson rivers.

Remaining chaos squad members tried to surrender, their morale broken, forces scattered and unknown demon masquerading as Imperial officer slaughtering everything in its path. Key word tried.

If there was one thing that Mike really detested it was traitors and cowards. Seeing as his victims fell under both categories no quarter was given. Even though the dropped their weapons and kneeled before him.

No mercy. Shot after shot ruptured marines head.

No regret. Last two marines got up and started to run tripping over the bodies littering the trench.

Disgust and loathing. Two bullets shattered their legs felling would be escapees. Cries for mercy were silenced by two strokes of sword beheading both traitors.

Chaos sorcerer stumbled around the corner. Armor bent and scorched, one arm missing another mangled beyond use. He only lived through the inferno by using power of the warp to shield himself from worst of damage. Upon seeing monster in human from standing on top of two World Bearers he made motion to turn around and flee.

Blackwell would have none of that. He dashed forward and sliced Achilles tendons fully immobilizing his foe. Mike knew somewhere deep inside that he had the mastermind behind the attack on his home in firm grasp. He cracked his knuckles and started to rain blows on fallen enemy.

Around them Imperial remnants clashed with chaos survivors. Some broken marines tried to barter for mercy. They got bullet to the head instead. Some surrendered and were shredder with fully automatic fire. Few unlucky ones were knocked unconscious and dragged off for interrogation.

"Sir. Hammer squad ready for orders. Sir." A squad of Crows almost materialized before Blackwell as he continued beating sorcerer well after he blacked out. Mike took deep calming breath, his warp aura fading somewhere during the beat down.

"How come you guys always get away with nary a scratch when everyone else get horribly injured eh?" Commander shot question at Hammer leader while hoisting chaos leader under his arms.

"Emperor protects. Sir." Textbook answer as far as Mike was concerned and correct one. A spiritual analogy of 'we got lucky'.

"Well since you did so well here, you get the honors of carrying this asshole home." Wisp sat down on carcass of traitor marine and lit another smoke. He found it funny how quickly he developed that vice. Seems like it was his way of coping with madness around him. Same like Marcus's drinking habit and Nefron's pyromania.

All is well on homefront. Now time to retake what is rightfully theirs. Blackwell sat in silence and watched Imperial forces busing themselves with corpse disposal and fallen comrades retrieval.

Eventually he stood up and walked towards his outpost smoking his cigarette and whistling twisted nerve tune.

###############

Next chapter Operation Snowball.

AN: Shorter one this time due to me writing it in theory class. Hope Lt doesn't notice :P


	10. Chapter 9

AN: Fallen Ryu kinda agreed to do some beta work for me so overall quality might improve a bit. As for my terrible grammar I am well aware of it, bit such are the hazards of writing dead tired after daily grind in military. I have some plot bunnies rocking around in my mind, the plot for this story is more or less finished in rough draft on sticky notes in my locker. Don't question why sticky notes ok? Already have a sequel in plan or rather a series of follow ups with other popular genres. Thank you for the favs, follows and reviews.

Anyway on with the chapter. As always read, enjoy review.

**CHAPTER 8. Operation Snowball**

**Route 14 towards Victory Bay, 0700 hrs.**

"Keep up with the rest Armadillo 4, Red flight do not veer of the vector, Marcus put some speed in that Ant." Blackwell supervised convoy movements via monitors in his modified Badger APC.

Normal Badger type Chimera was a minelayer slash engineering vehicle, with some time spent on gutting the machine and installing new equipment it came into a state of art mobile HQ. It retained the turret with autocannon but lost almost all cargo space in favor of various monitoring devices and vox uplink. Normally the PDA would function as command relay device, however it lacked versatility of fully computerized information center.

"Well sorry that you had the bright idea to let me drive in front arshloch." Marcus bit back while looking at the strain engine was under due to the travel rigor.

"You folks down there have jolly good time huh?" Forthecho chuckled listening to the chatter. He reclined in the comfortable pilot seat inside his Thunderbolt. His copilot and ECM operator was staring at the radar screen searching for any hostiles in the area.

"We really should have taken at least a day of break before this. This is a nightmare to manage." Blackwell grumbled as he looked at somewhat organized chaos that the line of machines resembled.

Over a hundred machines were traversing the road towards their ultimate destination – Victory Bay. Scores of Leapfrogs, Hummers, Chimeras, Banewolves and Hellhounds along with single super heavy tank Ant kicked up huge clouds of dust. Infantry was safely tucked inside the APCs or sitting on top of IFVs and the tank. Another two platoons of conscripts were flying inside Valkyrie dropships above the convoy. Two wings of Thunderbolt fighters flanked ground vehicles.

"Whose bright idea was it?" Brandt groused as one of the hummers sped ahead of him to scan the road ahead for mines or traps. Tank commander took a swing of the bottle he kept with him at all times. This time it was bourbon that lit the fire in his throat.

Blackwell snorted and took last drag from his cancer stick, before the stub flew out of the side hatch and into some unlucky trooper sitting on top of a Hellhounds turret. The Crow that had the mouth full of ash, due to the cigarette butt hitting him square in the face, spluttered and spit out grimy substance out. His other comrades sharing his seating arrangements roared in laughter, which prompted the unlucky trooper to flip them a bird.

"Pops seem to be agitated, smokes like a bloody stack on the factory today." Corporal in charge of the unit sitting on Hellhound muttered looking at another cigarette butt flying out of vehicle in front of them.

"Can you blame him? He saw opportunity to grab our home turf so as soon as he got more forces he left skeleton crew at the outpost and rode with Pyro and Shot." Lance Corporal responded fiddling with his rifle. Unclip magazine, pull back receiver, check chamber, put clip back, check safety, adjust the sights, rinse and repeat.

"Come on don't let them hear you speaking those names. It is bad enough some of our guys call old man Smokey, remember what happened when he found out?" Everyone shuddered at the fate last joker to call commander that name.

"Yup Calders still can't bring himself to look at latrines after that one. Heard he was in the outhouse for a whole day before someone let him out." The Calders was the sorry sod who took the long bath in the pile of refuse when he was thrown there headfirst by irate wisp.

"And that was our commander, so now think what other two officers would do if they heard you. We are pops men so we get some leeway, not much but still some is better than none." One of the privates droned as Leapfrog ran past their vehicle. Last statement plunged present company in silence as Hellhound drove on.

Flat grasslands were soon replaced with burned out ruins of suburban area of their destination.

###############

**OUTPOST PATER 2200 hrs previous day**

"We need to reinforce, resupply and move out before they can send more forces to Victory Bay." Nefron argued motioning at the holographic map in the command building.

"They have only 5th Company there and at most two squads of traitor marines to act as overseers. My boys flew over there before we made it here." Air force commander supplemented his idea with recon intelligence his forces acquired.

"We will need to go full force if we want to retake that place mostly intact. Some factories suffered up to 80 % damage during the fighting, but underground stores are intact. They are also untouched last time I saw them." Brandt supplied his opinion and additional information pointing at four places in Victory Bay.

"Those two are intact for sure, right under my forward outpost. Locked them myself. One is full of spare parts and power cells. Other holds enough weaponry to arm small country. This one here is stocked with food and water. It is directly under late high command. Last one had machinery for the factories, it is located under the industrial sector." Marcus described four strategic places by touching them on the map and changing their color to green.

"Those are our primary objectives. Secondary is to secure factories in industrial zone here. Also we need to put down the turncoats that started this mess. They haven't moved from their quarters in market here." Armor commander nodded as Air wisp painted red circle in another section of the map.

"I can take my men to empty out the stores. However, to take care of factories and traitors I will need air and armor support. From your recon I see some heavy bolter turrets at intersections leading to the market square." Twelve flags appeared on roads leading to enemy base, as Blackwell painted his concerns.

"I don't fancy loosing half of my lads on yolo charge against those. That is rough estimate for me, more if 5th has someone competent leading them. They will station some guards there to supplement turrets." Mike described likely problems depicting more dots on holographic display.

"I can strafe turrets with missiles then drop some bombs at their buildings. I can guarantee to take care of three hotspots, but then I will have to return for rearming. I do have something that will need factories up and running." Nefron idly played with a lighter gazing at the flame while he was providing solution for imminent problems.

"Oh you do have an ace in the hole? " Blackwell asked throwing away another cigarette stub.

Forthecho didn't answer verbally, instead he pulled out the blueprints of a flying fortress. At least that was what Mike would describe the machine he saw.

"This is mother of all gunships, The Pheonix. It packs enough firepower to level any stronghold and crush all that dares to stand in its way. Marcus you might be familiar with design, it was the same manufacturer that supplied chassis for your tanks." Air force Wisp crowed with pride showing others his greatest treasure so far.

"Problem is the same as with your tanks, all necessary parts need to be built from scratch, you had enough resources to pump out two tanks and enough spare parts for them to keep it going, I did not." Nefron patted blueprints deep in thought as he looked at the other officers.

"So basically once we get our hands on the production sites we will be able to grind Chaos to dust here right? We will snowball toward their base in Deimos Peninsula with that birdie." Marcus supplied his opinion concerning mighty machine.

"So let's make it official. We call it operation Snowball. I will need couple hours to get my forces up and running. I plan to take with me at least battalion worth of men in that fight." Blackwell announced standing up and putting another smoke in his mouth. The other officers nodded and also left the building to oversee the preperations.

###############

**Victory Bay 1000 hrs.**

The bridge leading to the heart of the city was devastated from previous fighting. Two flak armored figures were walking along the stone sidewalk holding laser rifles. Eight pointed star figured under emblem of fifth company.

"You think LT did the right thing with our new gig?" One Guardsman asked his companion. He hefted bulky weapon over his shoulder.

"Sure hope he did, last one was absolute wan-" Whatever response his compatriot might have given was cut short as 20 mm bullet decapitated traitor.

The first turncoat merely had the time to look at the falling body of his squad mate before another sniper round left huge hole where his face once was.

"Dagger here. Entry clear. Moving in on secondary objective." Brief movement in far bushes revealed presence of Crowguard squad. They sprinted across the bridge to avoid detection from any remaining sentries posted.

"Copy. Blue leader here, making my attack run." Forthecho responded gunning engines of his craft and leading a wing Thunderbolts toward enemy fortifications.

"Dog company reporting. We have secured objective number 1. Everything accounted for. We had brief spat with guards near outpost entrance." Vox chatter announced acquisition of first supply cache.

"Baker company here. Second objective secure. No casualties, nine tangos downed." Another unit reported capture of strategic location.

"Able on line, we are approaching industrial sector. No opposition. Severe damage in most structures. Securing strategic places." Last insertion unit reported their status and resumed vox silence.

"Hotel Quebec here. Moving in with rest of the assets towards tertiary objective." Blackwell intoned his status and motioned for driver to cross the bridge. Leapfrogs forgone the process of walking and simply jumped over the river after brief sprint. Ant tank along with Hellhounds drove at full speed across metal structure and crossed into the city.

HQ Badger rolled behind last IFV and stopped behind large pile of rubble. City was almost completely reduced to rubble, at least residential sector was. Mike stepped out of his APC and waited for the rest Chimeras to disgorge their troops.

"Our objective is Market area where enemy set up their shop. If they surrender take them prisoner, if they resist put one in their noggin. Onwards lads." Blackwell led his men, whole five squads of fresh recruits from yesterday's reinforcement.

The flames were visible even before they crossed the first street. Thunderbolts roared overhead, their work done. Birds were returning to base after dropping payload of death and destruction on the traitors heads.

"Gotta get him something nice." Blackwell mused as he waved at retreating aircraft. Afterward he took out another ciggy and lit it with zippo lighter.

"Lock and load, Search and Destroy." Michael reloaded his pistols and checked new toy he took from stores, the handheld 40 mm grenade launcher. It was pump action weapon which held 5 grenades. Looked like a China Lake.

Combined Imperial forces moves swiftly through the city annihilating everything that dared to stand in their path. Ant reduced any remaining turrets into the piles of rubble. Any Sentinel that tried to contend with Leapfrog was severely outclassed and outgunned. Their burning wrecks marked the route of armored forces. Hellhounds burned out any traitors holed out in gutted buildings.

Crow Infantry and Kriegans mowed down all pockets of resistance that they happened across. Grenades torn turncoats cover and shrapnel perforated their bodies. Flamethrowers lit up running chaos guardsmen turning them into human torches.

"Kriegan second platoon moving to secure objective number three." Distinct German accent filtered the vox channels as a quarter of assaulting infantry broke off towards another storage location.

"Kriegan first platoon here, going for forth cache, requesting Hellhound escort. Multiple footmobiles sighted in that area." As soon as their request was granted the infantry supported by mechanized detachment moved to capture last primary objective.

"Bravo here, all nests purged, vermin skittering in the open. Permission to sanitize." Banewolf commander asked as he trailed chemcannon on panicking traitor remnants. Their base was turned into hellish landscape of scorched earth, collapsed buildings and heaps of metal that once were vehicles.

As soon as Crow infantry approached traitor guardsmen threw down their weapons and kneeled before approaching force begging for mercy. Blackwell motioned his troops to secure firearms and bind prisoners for processing. Chaos marines were long dead by the time turncoats surrendered.

One squad was torched by hellhound while it tried to flee towards Deimos. Their foul armor acted as an oven while they baked to death inside it. Other failed supervisor squad was crushed beneath the rubble of unstable building as Ant pit HE shell in main support.

With no encouragement from chaos marines rest of the traitors folded like wet tissue paper.

"I am Lieutenant Erik Gunnarsen, I pledge myself and my men of 5th Company to the Glory of Emperor." One fair haired officer walked out from wreck of Chimera APC.

"Too little, too late." Blackwell responded and put one 50 cal bullet in traitors neck. Tip of the projectile lodged itself in the spine while the rest of the bullet fragmented inside the wound. Gunnarrsen's neck erupted in crimson fountain. Turncoat's body slumped down on dirt marking that moment as a victory for imperials.

Snowball hit the slope and turned into avalanche.

###############

Next chapter Keep on Rolling.

AN: Fun fact this one was written in bursts for last week or so.


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own anything aside from Marcus and Blackwell, so lawsuits do kindly piss of.

AN: Nothing new to report. Sarge is still the asshole of the unit, colonel doesn't do shit. My mates still get hammered in local bar. AND I AM STILL DOING KITCHEN DUTY!

As always read, enjoy review.

**CHAPTER 10. Keep on Rolling**

**Victory Bay, Week later 0800 hrs.**

"Ok boys last week we beefed up defenses and restocked on supplies. We now have three battalions worth of assorted infantry, armor and air force. Also I would like to introduce you to new colleagues. Welcome the Section two operatives." Blackwell's announcement was met with applause as S2 soldiers walked into the barracks.

S2s, as most people would call them, were the special infantry, commandos, black ops and so on. Cream of the crop which replaced regular Kasrkin from Cadia. Armored with carapace armor and totting 21 mm rapid firing assault rifles loaded with enriched uranium bullets. Multiple ammo pouches dotted the vest draped over hard exoskeleton of composite-ceramic armor. Opaque lenses reflected light shining on the facemasks of specials, masks doubled as rebreathers with voice modulators. Two tubes circulated oxygen between life support unit and mouthpiece. Grey helmets adored their heads and black combat backpacks rested on their backs. Two crisscrossing bandoliers over their chest armor were loaded with acid mist grenades. Heavy titanium boots crushed dirt underneath their confident steps. (1)

Victory Bay was booming with life as more than three thousand soldiers milled around doing their daily chores. Some carried crates full of ammunition, others rode in trucks transporting various machinery and spare parts. Some were doing their daily training, NCOs were drilling their underlings in tactics. Few who had short break were consuming their field rations or entertained themselves with hazard games like dice and cards.

If someone were to look at the devastated bridge he could see lines of corpses wearing standard imperial flak vests. Thick ropes tied in noose coiled around pale throats. The traitor's fate is hangman gallows. Those who surrendered to the alliance were tried in front of the field court, found guilty on charge of treachery and executed in manner befitting those who turned their back on the Empire.

There was some grumbling from Forthecho about the method of execution. He wanted to torch turncoats alive on a giant pyre, while Marcus opted in for crushing traitors beneath the tank treads, but in the end the argument of warning and example given by Blackwell won. Hence the gallows on the bridge.

That and previous executions back in Heartlands gave Blackwell another nickname among his troops that he kind of let it slide. Old man Gallows, the wisp found it amusing how quickly whole army picked that up and used behind his back.

Aside from stockpiling supplies and forces, Gallows was also doing thorough recon on Deimos Peninsula and Chaos forces stationed in the marshes to the south and token force of traitors placed on the island near enemy's main base. The greenskins were pushing chaos back with overwhelming numbers. Traitors might have won if they didn't lose factories of Victory Bay and almost half of their forces on botched assault on Pavonian Heartlands. As the situation developed the portal responsible for the reinforcements from the warp was not able to spit out enough troops to sustain the crumbling defensive. Eliphias the Inheritor was the commander responsible for Kronus conquest, now he might as well start looking forward to long stint in Basilica of Torment again.

In last ditch attempt the chaos lord pulled all on essential forces from outposts to the north of Peninsula leaving them with skeleton crew. To summarize easy pickings, especially with the new commando unit. Brandt already got excited by the prospect of blitzkrieg operation that was going to follow up Snowball. All commanders agreed to call it Avalanche. Due date was as soon as Phoenix heavy gunship is finished. Funny enough it was in last stage of production and all weapons were already installed. It was just the matter of test flight and letting blood red and orange paint dry.

"As of 2100 hours today, three squads of Section 2 operatives will disrupt enemy communications in sector Alpha and Bravo." Blackwell pointed at two chaos outposts on island and marshes in south.

"They will also plant HE charges in strategic location grounding any response from these sites. Objective Bravo is scheduled for total termination by Avalanche." Gallows pointed at outpost situated near main road leading to Deimos Peninsula.

"Objective Alpha is going to be razed by fly boys from Dragon corps. Phoenix is due to its rite of combat. Paratroopers, courtesy of Commander Nefron ,will later on assist in taking spot in objective Charile." Infantry wisp pointed at the spot on map resembling black cancer in the middle of the Peninsula.

"You are Scalpel part of the operation, Armored division acts like Hammer, Airforce is operating under codename Saber. You will receive further instructions in transit. If you have question please direct them towards your commanding officers. Officers if you are unsure of any part of the plan refer to either myself, colonel Nefron or colonel Marcus. Avalanche starts at 0600 hrs tomorrow. Get a good night of sleep it might be your last. Dismissed." Blackwell saluted his soldiers and walked out of the barracks into the chilling autumn winds.

"Do you feel it?" Marcus stood supported by wall looking at the hectic activity of remaining grunts.

"Fell what?" Blackwell asked eyeing other wisp and shuffling reports from the fleet on his PDA.

"The wind, mate. It is the wind of change. Something big is going to happen." Brandt supplied his superstition with a wave of hand. Ever present bottle jiggled in the other hand murky grey liquid looked like a home brewed moonshine.

"It might be. We kind of crashed the cannon history of this universe when we first landed. Imagine if the Emperor were to look at what we are doing. On one hand he would be pleased to see someone getting work done. On the other hand we do not answer to him so we are wildcards. That one must piss him off. Such potent military power if unified could pretty much shape the fate of the universe." Blackwell explained his point of view as he lit another cigarette. One long drag later he resumed his monologue.

"We are scattered and mostly leaderless, selfish and narcisstic, adrenaline junkies ready to leap into the maw of death and come out not even worse for wear out of it. There is more. Even if death decides to claim us we simply show her middle finger and wave goodbye as we get respawned by the system. Long story short we might as well be the worst nightmare of preexisting powers. Uncontrolled, unmatched and dare I say completely Insane." Blackwell accented last part with shark like grin showing brown tint from tobacco on his teeth.

Marcus only snorted and took another swig from his bottle before walking toward his loved tank. All the way he was humming 'hall of the mountain king'. Gallows just took another drag from his cancer stick and walked toward the landing pad where last minute changes to the Phoenix took place.

Mike brought up his PDA again looking at the status of the little pet project he invested some resources into. Small bipedal walker about 1.5 meter wide, 2.5 meter tall and 1 meter long with armament. It was a single crew vehicle that could speed around the the battlefield at impressive 70 km/h. Hard titanium alloy chassis covered the cockpit and short legs. Plasma reactor supplied its energy from compartment in its underbelly. Single Vulcan cannon spun around spitting 20 mm bullets at 1200 rounds per minute. (2)

Michael had one full pack of twelve ready for test drive. He decided to call them Dilos in homage to prehistoric reptiles that hunted in packs and spit at its prey. One Dilo was already painted in black and ready for wisp commander. Main problem laid with ammo capacity, Dilos had two compartments for ammunition next to minigun mounted on stenson, under cockpit. The stetson gave it 90 degrees horizontal and vertical line of fire. Ammunition itself composed of enriched uranium perfect for armored infantry and lightly armored vehicles.

Since they were smaller than regular Sentinels they were able to be loaded onto APC. Two Armadillo APCs were already tasked with carrying deadly machines. Blackwell giggled anticipating reaction that chaos would display while facing his pets.

##############

**Highway 67 en route to Deimos Peninsula 1000 hrs.**

Operation Avalanche was moving without any delays, Section 2 already managed to cripple both chaos outposts. Nefron just reported total eradication of remaining foes left on the island. His paratrooper conscripts passed the rite of fire. His gunship displayed terrifying aptitude at destroying all ground targets with its autocannons and missiles. All chaos cultists and traitor marines were reduced to ashes with airburst fuel bombs and napalm canisters. Those that tried to run were gunned down by rapid laser fire.

The convoy that rode toward its most hated enemy nearly tripled in size compared to the one that appeared in Victory Bay. Now three Armadillos with Section 2 operators rejoined main force. Now three wings of Thunderbolt circled around the snake that crawled along the Highway. Multiple Leman Russ tanks flanked APCs. Hellhound and Banewolf IFVs covered both front and rear of the convoy. Leapfrogs and Dilos ran around on the far flanks occasionally speeding in front of the vehicle line to search for traps and mines.

Soldiers decided to mostly stay inside the APCs this time as predicted opposition was higher and deadlier than the one in Victory Bay.

Blackwell drove his Dilo in front of the convoy with canopy open so that he won't suffocate from cigarette fumes. Marcus again lead the core of vehicles in his ever present Ant. During the R&amp;R in Victory Bay Ant gained extra layer of armor specifically designed to resist HEAT shells. 20 mm plating was mounted on struts on the side and front of the tank. IT looked like Panzer IV H from World War 2 if you disregarded its massive size and different profile.

Soon enough Huge gunship with multiple weapon pods and missile pylons flew overhead, closely followed by two wings of Thunderbolts and four Valkyrie transports. Some of the conscripts were already promoted to Kasrkins for the valor and courage displayed in the heat of battle.

There was a brief period when Convoy separated itself into two parts. One commanded by Marcus in his tank drove to annihilate remaining chaos base in the marshes near the road, while the rest moved with Blackwell toward Deimos Peninsula.

"Listen up lads. Since we are moving towards the hell on this planet I though this will fit the mood. Let others have some fun before we burn out that shitstain Eliphias from here. Sit back and relax." Blackwell announced and set up separate vox channel which boomed with tunes of AC/DC Highway to Hell. Soon enough most of the convoy chorused the vocals.

"I am on the HIGHWAY TO HELL. HIGHWAY to HELL."

###############

Next chapter: The Boogeyman.

AN: Seems like I finally crossed 20k milestone with this one. Now time for 50k.

For visual I suggest you look up troopers from the game called "Dark Colony".

Look up Reaper walker also from "Dark Colony"

Heavy training up ahead. Going to break track record on Devil's Lane from the way sarge looks at me.


	12. Chapter 11

AN: Sorry for hiatus lads and lassies, bad shit happened. I had a brief time in hospital due to training accident with live munitions. Kind of misjudged the power of a grenade. On the bright side that ricochet left nice scar on my temple (Chicks dig scars). Second part was my laptop breathing its last in barracks due to coffee accident. Nuff said.

Well then rant finished enjoy the story as always.

**CHAPTER 11. The Boogeyman**

**Deimos Peninsula 1400 hrs. **

Blackwell scanned barren landscape of Deimos Peninsula. No enemy movements so far. Most Chaos forces have hunkered down in hastily built barricades, bunkers and abandoned buildings. Most structures were made of prefabs and strengthened with scrap metal.

Nothing that could withstand firepower that Wisps had at their disposal.

Michael had to wait for Marcus before the assault could begin. Their heavies armor elements were tied up cleaning outposts that popped up in swamps to the north.

Tank commander already reported first casualties. One full platoon perished in the minefield, with other three suffering around 30 % killed and wounded. Two APCs destroyed by melta charges and further two disabled with damaged engines. Most important in the tally was loss of the Ant heavy tank. The machine drowned in the swamp, its armor becoming its undoing. With nothing capable of extracting heavy vehicle, it had to be abandoned. Imperial forces were down one ace in the hole.

"Eagle here. Perimeter sweep finished. Enemy deployed area denial assets in strategic chokepoints. Advancing with infantry ill advised. Hostile elements are armed with AT weaponry. Over." One of the leased Valkyrie pilot provided commander with sitrep and landed on the runway in the forward operations base.

Base itself was established in less then two hours since their arrival. Two meter high walls of reinforced concrete with guard towers every hundred meters. Heavy weapon teams occupied each tower ready to unleash their firepower on anything foolish to approach the base. Minelayers drove around leaving behind mix of deadly packages on the ground for the unwary.

The inner section was composed of four barrack buildings, three vehicle depots, two airfields and armories intermixed with supply warehouses. In the center of seemingly chaotic layout field command center has been established.

On the top of HQ a modified howitzer based on Basilisk artillery piece was placed. It was stationary, long rage, arc firing weapon that could reach first line of enemy defenses.

Inside FOB was bustling with activity. Soldiers moving around carrying crates of ammunition, rations and fuel. Engineers doing last minute repairs to stationed vehicles. Combat intelligence teams were reporting enemy positions and operations.

Blackwell stood on top of the southern tower, smoking a cigarette. He did not like the stalemate they were in. Both sides of the conflict did not have enough resources to deal with other.

For now at least.

Neforn was doing hit and run raids on the damnable blood pulse monuments that eradicated all non chaos troops approaching it. Those hidden in vehicles were spared gruesome death, but power behind each pulse could knock out the engines rendering vehicle inoperable and its crew confined in a steel coffin. The raids yielded mediocre results due to sturdiness of the structures.

As soon as Ant tanks arrived that would change. Sheer toughness of Ant's armor and its subsystems will let it power through that obstacle and destroy the shrine powering the foul contraption.

Blackwell musings were cut short when Section 2 operative climbed the stairs and appeared before the Wisp.

"Sir, Charlies appear to be amassing their tier one footmobiles for the assault. Permission to do deep insertion?" Heavily modulated voice announced idea that commando unit had cooked up with aid from the dropship pilot.

Michael hummed in consideration. Plan had its merits. It could destabilize enemy efforts and the disarray might just prove to be enough when next aerial insertion could take out the shrine.

"You have a green light for the op. Be advised, we will not be able to provide support until we get through the second blockade. Do you still want to do it?" Blackwell wanted to warn his soldier of hazard of the operation, before they jumped into the fire.

While he was increasingly less concerned with opinions of his men as well as their lives, he chalked it up to wear and tear that came with commanding position. Commander thought that as long as he did not see his soldiers as chess pieces on the board, no problems would arise.

While certain sacrifices have to be made, unnecessary losses are frowned upon. It is downright wasteful to throw away soldiers at the enemy without and real gain. Blackwell was ready to condemn his whole task force to death as long as it would spell the total eradication of chaos forces. He felt apathetic, detached with each skirmish and fight. It happened after each time that dark aura empowered him.

"We are aware sir. Lynx squad will deliver." Armored specialist saluted and walked away.

"Hmm, seems like I might not need heavy hitter just yet." Mused Mike as soon as commando left the area.

"All Delta callsigns are to report to Victors One through Four, we will perform double strike." Blackwell issued another order that would give him jumpstart in this campaign.

Deltas were Dilo walkers armed with standard minigun as well as a dual rocket pods in the sides. Total of eight TOW missiles. Normal Dilos were agile but lacked firepower when it came to destroying structures and armored vehicles. Additional weaponry that could punch through a thick armor plating was nice and all, but it limited machines top speed and agility.

Beauty of the beast laid in its weights and size. It was light enough that it could drop form low altitude without any assistance from parachute. Internal stabilizers would take care of the shock. Advantage of its small size laid in two fields. First, it was small enough to be reliably hard to hit with most AT weaponry. Second, up to eight of the beasties could be loaded into a dropship.

With 23 Deltas and one Blackwells Dilo it will be a massacre for anything less than a Predator tank platoon. Michael believed in leading by example. First man in, last one out.

**Deimos Peninsula 1600 hrs. Chaos encampment.**

Cultist were amassing in huge crater made by one of the initial attempts to wipe out the Chaos forces on the planet. Attempt made by one of the Space Marines merely delayed the spread of a corruption. Now the leftover scar was used as a cover from the eyes of invading forces.

Aspiring champions herded their slaves in that direction. The glory and favor of their gods fueling their ambition and lust for power. Same qualities that would mark their doom.

First sign that something was wrong were panicked cultists arriving without their masters and in greatly decreased numbers. Immediately Brutus the Savage, an aspiring champion tasked with preparations and assault on Imperial base, sent out scouts to check what was going on. If it were some upstarts settling their scores, heads would roll.

Alas it was not. Another scout joined its compatriots with throat sliced in wide arc. Section 2 Commandos were deadly in stealth as well as in open fight. Most chaos scouts were complacent in their safety due to blood pulse stopping any advance from the Imperials. They forgot about airforce and its ability to deploy forces behind their defenses.

"Lynx One here, feelers are sleeping, moving on to next checkpoint. Over." Commando reported to his captain as he wiped a bloodstain from his helmet and moved onwards to the edge of the crater.

Other members if Lynx squad meticulously cleaned area around the crater from any form of guards or scouts. Big game aka Aspiring champions were near the bottom flexing their strength and boasting to establish the chain of command.

All of this would be pointless in next couple minutes.

"Sentry turrets in place." Lynx squad managed to acquire Tarantula turrets from quartermaster for the operation. This weapon doubled firepower available to the specialists. Squad numbering 12 men was enough to take on 5 to 1 odds on their own. With those turrets they could easily take care of over 200 heretics present.

Down in the crater Brutus roared and snapped one of his slaves neck for the report he was given. Not a single scout returned, Khornate warrior felt his blood boil in anger at the incompetence his underlings displayed. How was he supposed to become champion of war when he was surrounded by sniveling cowards and scheming traitors.

He never would have been or ever will be due to 20 mm slug ventilating his brain. That is why most smart soldiers wear helmets. Initial volley from Commando squad cut down roughly fourth of the enemies present. Survivors scrambled for cover, but it soon proved to futile due to enemy firing from elevated ground and all directions.

Their shroud become their death veil. Place that was supposed to hide them became a killing grounds.

"Lynx Three you have 10 plus footmobiles approaching your vector."

"Copy that, shifting."

Tarantula and 20 mm autorifle proved to be more than a match for low grade flak armor that was standard grab for chaos cultists. Sprays of blood and shrieks of pain marked their passage into afterlife. Few unlucky ones were severely wounded but not killed. Most of those injuries were terminal, but it only added minutes of torment to their existence.

Some cultists lost their limbs or were disemboweled and other got a dose of white death when commandos started to add explosives into the carnage. Grenades, satchel charges and white phosphorus canisters. Those were the tools of war that day aside from bullets.

Champions fared a bit better, but it was mostly due to their slaves acting as cannon fodder. Their return fire was inefficient and panic as well as chaos made it almost impossible to reorganize and regroup.

"Lynx Actual be advised Charlies called for reinforcements, ETA 5 minutes."

"Solid copy. Let's wrap this up. Empty last mag and get out of here. Exit vector 320. Over"

As soon as Lynx squad unloaded last clip into the enemy they disappeared running towards location of the shrine. Half of the shrine guards were redeployed as reinforcements for the Crater site.

Crater itself was a slaughterhouse. Wailing and moaning pierced the air as almost two hundred heretics lost their lives, survivors were in even deeper shit when their failure was brought into light. Incompetence was an affront to chaos therefore punishable by death.

When reinforcements reached the site Lynx squad was long gone and hidden in the ditch half a kilometer from the shrine. The road was designated as a landing point for Deltas. Valkyries scream pierced the sky as them made U turn while deploying their cargos.

Delta Dilos landed with dull thud on the concrete road. First one was distinct as it belonged to the commander. Blackwells Dilo hatch popped open and bandaged figure blew a smoke from a cigar.

"Glad to see my Boogeymen alive. Seems like you scared them shitless. Great job lads." Michael greeted his commandos the closed the hatch and continued with more metallic, modulated voice.

"Now that they tasted fear, let us serve them dessert in the form of despair." With that machines started sprinting towards entrenched enemy.

Next chapter: Benefactor.


	13. Chapter 12

AN: Hello everyone, it's been a hell of a long time since I posted a chapter. In my defense shit got real in my life, made dumb decision, signed up for a tour in hot zone. Enough said about that. I think I'm mentally back to 100 % now.

Now on with the story.

**Chapter 12. Benefactor**

**Deimos Peninsula 2000 hrs.**

"Taking fire, need assistance, armor support is gone, squad is minus 5, I repeat squad is minus five. OVER." Lynx squad saw better days. For elite troopers they went down quickly when faced with massed fire of four heavy bolter turrets and shelling from two defilers.

The hill where recon spotted a chaos ritual proved more difficult to take than Blackwell anticipated. First hour marked grinding halt for planned blitz with Dilos. True TOW missiles managed to take out a Predator tank and couple APCs, as well as reduce a Defiler to smoking scrap, but then again Landraider Phobos was more than a match for light assault walkers. Lasers and thin armor don't mesh well.

Michael puffed on the cigar sitting in the ditch. He knew he was literally screwed. His King Basilisk artillery cannon was out of range and Nefron's airforce was tied up with chaos fighters. Any armored support he could call would not even make it halfway to his position before it gets destroyed.

Tracers and laser fire lit up the night as Lynx squad and chaos forces traded fire. Landraider periodically glassed an area of the ditch with its laser cannons, or ripped through the dirt with stormbolters. Turrets only added to the volume of fire raining on commander's position.

Blackwell blind fired his grenade rifle on squad of cultists slowly advancing on his position. A shriek of terror and wail of pain marked a good hit. Now cultists were only brave as long as they had stick hanging over their head. Usually in form of aspiring champion or chaos marines ready to shoot them in the back.

This time they had one of the heaviest vehicles behind their back and a lot of firepower on the hill. Their bravery stemmed from cowardice. Retreat and get ripped apart or attack and maybe gain favor of their twisted gods. Easy choice.

Now even with half of them wounded or dead they ran at Mike and his troopers. Seeing how badly his forces were pinned down by chaos, they were only able to take potshots before enemy forced them back to cover.

"This is colonel Rotstein I have two platoons of Crowguard approaching your position, mortar positions have been established to the south of your position, we are ready for your orders commander. Over." A voice like sandpaper echoed from the radio. One of the newly promoted command staff wanted to prove his worth and Blackwell was more than happy to receive reinforcements.

He slammed a fresh 40 mm grenade into his rifle and pumped the choke. His bandolier was nearly empty, two left and than he was back to his two pistols and power sword. Not ideal for this kind of range. 100 meters behind him his Dilos burned bright in the night. Promethean fuel had a long burn time.

"This is commander Blackwell, requesting close artillery support in grid one, six , zero, echo six, load up Willy Pete for first salvo and then treat them with standard payload. Over."

"Roger that. Coordinates: one, six, zero, zero, echo, six. Shot. Over."

Soon a whistle of mortar rounds could be heard over the sound of firefight. First detonation was 50 meters above the target to ensure maximum spread of its deadly payload. Say what you want but there is a reason why White Phosphorus was banned. Any unprotected infantry got torched, any armored one slowly cooked alive in their suits. The heat and smoke started to mess with targeting sensors of automated turrets.

Defilers for all their armor were slow walkers and their high caliber cannon required an equally high caliber ammunition. Ammunition which exposed to significantly high temperature had tendency to detonate on its own. Boy did they go with a bang.

Landraider on the other hand protected its crew as it should, however its laser cannons had a small flaw. They could overheat. As temperature around the tank jumped a couple hundred degrees, the cannons entered a semi-permanent state of overheating. The stormbolters didn't fare much better. A mighty machine reduced to a rolling bunker.

"Second volley. Shot. Over." Colonel reported and let loose with more rounds.

This time the impacts revealed munitions to be high explosives. While it couldn't pierce armor of the Landraider, it served its purpose of rending its tracks making it immobile. Some rounds splashed on the enemy infantry. Others knocked out the rest of the turrets on the hill.

At that point it was a mercy killing. Inhaled WP did terrible, terrible things to a human being, mutated, warped or not.

"This is Lieutenant Birch, arriving at your position in 5. Over." Another voice announced impending arrival of extra manpower and some hardware that hopefully will be able to eliminate enemy presence.

"Copy that. Take half of your men and see if there is another path up the hill to the south west. If you find anything scale the hill and hit them from there. The rest of your men will stay here and draw fire. Over." After receiving acknowledgment of his orders Blackwell switched to Colonel's channel.

"Thank you for the assistance. New fire mission, I want mixed bag of ordnance on the marked targets. Sustained barraged, ten volleys. Coordinates locked as: one, six, zero, delta, five. Over and out."

"Roger, coordinates: one, six, zero, delta, five. Fire for effect. Over and out." Colonels reply managed catch a thump of first shells.

Once again hill lit up like Christmas tree. Between airburst fuel shells, willy pete, shrapnel rounds and high explosive munition the carnage was absolute. Buildings started to slowly fall apart. Spontaneous combustions marked hits on fuel and munition stockpiles.

Blackwell started to get worried as a cloud of death started to slowly creep towards his forces, but relaxed as soon as breeze from the sea pushed it further uphill. Now that managed to dislodge dug in elite chaos forces.

Two squads of chaos marines with mark of Tzeench and Khorne's Terminators rushed down the hill to meet the opposition. Thankfully by the time they were roused to act, Blackwell received his reinforcements.

Four squads of Crowguard and half of the Lynx squad managed to stall the advance of the enemy with massed gauss rifle fire and 20 mm rifles. Another four squads appeared on the ridge line and started to take potshots at the enemy.

Now that the tables turned, chaos ran at their original targets hoping to break through.

Crowguard learning from past mistakes concentrated fire on harder targets aka Terminators. Those had heavy armor plating, but with enough firepower they went down. Next were Tzeench's followers. They proved to be trickier, used corpses of their followers as cover and firing back at dug in soldiers.

That is where snipers come in. One by one Tzeench Marines were picked off with rounds to the neck or helmet. Some were disabled with shots to the knee joints and then ripped apart with rest of infantry fire.

More dug in traitors were evicted from their cover with liberal use of grenade launchers and then taken apart once they were in the open.

Seeing imminent failure chaos Sorcerer proceeded to retreat towards disabled Landraider, hoping to imbue it with his foul magic. That plan went in flames.

Literally.

Flanking units managed to strap enough shaped charges on the behemoth to punch through to its two most vital areas. Engine compartment and munition storage. Ignition of fuel provided the fireworks while detonation of ordnance gave it a kick.

A kick which sent Sorcerer tumbling down the hill dazed.

Right down to the feet of Wisp commander.

"Well Suzy, you gave me a lot of trouble, any last words?" Blackwell asked downed enemy while tapping unsheathed power sword on his shoulder.

"Frak you…" Multitone response from sorcerer was more than enough to make commander frown beneath his bandages.

Mike spit the burn out cigarette into the dust and stomped on his foes hand. A satisfying grunt indicated that, despite astrates fabled endurance and chaos power, even they had a breaking point.

"Wrong answer. " Mike stabbed humming blade deep into abdomen of his enemy enticing a blood curling scream.

"Now normally I would hang you up like a decoration, but I don't have time for that, do I?" He twisted his sword and dragged it sideways bringing out more wails of pain from his victim.

"You cost me a lot of men, you wanker." Another stab landed in the liver, a brutal slash later and more screams escaped chaos servant.

"Now that will cost you, you know?" Two consecutive slashes removed palms from his victims arms.

"See?" Blackwell bent down and picked sorcerer's staff and planted it firmly in the ground.

"I got a nice resting spot for you, but you are heavy and I don't feel like lifting all of you." Mike smirked and put the edge of the sword near victim's neck.

"So how do you feel about becoming a decoration of different sort?" Michael swung sword, accompanied by terrified squeak from the enemy. Soon separated head had new resting spot on the improvised pike.

"Heh, ironic." Chuckled Wisp commander and lit a new cigarette.

Suddenly time crawled to stop around Blackwell and weird tear appeared right in front of him. It was green and pitch black at the same time, size wise it could at best encompass a fully grown adult.

Out of the portal came out a silhouette. Sharply dressed in full black business suit, oxford style shoes, white shirt and red tie with diamond pattern on it. The face was obscured by theatre mask, it was blank no frown, or happy smile, not even a sad expression like he used to see. The eyes on the other hand, glowed with pale green light, almost playfully.

"Seems like you need to learn a bit more about decorating, lad." The voice sounded like hundred different people speaking at the same time with an echoing quality to it.

"And you are?" Blackwell firmly resolved not to be intimidated by the new arrival.

"Me? I am your employer and well… Your benefactor." Mirthful chuckled escaped supernatural being, and light from its eyes seemed to grow in intensity."

Next chapter: Wheels of Industry.


	14. Chapter 13

AN: Posting another one. Made a metric shit ton of notes with ideas and plot lines while I was away. Takes some time to get through them. Counted 89 A4 pages worth of technical ideas and possible characters. Will try to incorporate as many as it is possible without breaking the story.

Now on with the good stuff.

**Chapter 13. Wheels of Industry**

**Deimos Peninsula **

**Hill 18, 2300 hrs.**

"Ok I'll bite." Blackwell flicked cigarette getting rid of excess ash.

"_I'm sure you do, you see I made quite an investment in you and the rest of your kind._" Ethereal voice of mysterious benefactor echoed around the still hill.

Mike looked around and confirmed that everything stood still, even a raven stopped in mid flight.

"Whoa, whoa stop. Investment? What are we split stocks?"

"_In a way. Think of this as a mercenary contract. You work for me from time to time, you get paid with currency of your choice. Be it money, power, or resources._" The Benefactor announced taking out a pack of cigarettes of his own and lighting a single cancer stick with a snap of his fingers.

"_Also I am going to issue a bounty for some individuals who managed to earn my ire. Like this fucker here_." Businessman kicked carcass of chaos sorcerer.

"So, how do I collect?" Blackwell asked in a cheeky manner.

"_First things first. Bounty collecting one oh one. Big fish tend to hold on to their most prized possession even after departing from material plane. That goes for all of them even Tau and Orks."_ The benefactor began taking a drag from a cigarette.

"What is that?" Asked Wisp commander nudging body if his latest victim with his foot.

"_Glad you asked_. _**Why soul of course…**_" Blackwell's employer's voice turned downright demonic near the end of that sentence.

"_You see, most small fry get automatically collected by you and your forces when you kill them. It is like breathing, you don't even notice it. Big fish need a bit of effort." _Mysterious figure waved in direction of the sorcerer.

"_You should feel a slight pull in your chest area, like a vacuum. Ooooor a black hole."_ Benefactor started to sound sheepish while mentioning the mechanics.

"_This kind of because your soul is not really present in that shell you are wearing." _Now Blackwell started to get worried.

"Where. Is. IT?" Growled commander crushing half burnt cancer stick in his hand.

"_Oh don't worry. I have it. Had to separate it so you can collect other souls, like great big bowl. By my estimates you contain around one and a half thousand of them, with hundred on lease from me as a start." _Suddenly black silhouette disappeared and reappeared right in front of the Wisp.

A cold feeling seeped from Blackwell's chest. A black hand seemed to phase through his very being digging around for something. A quick tug and a feeling of tearing marked the end of whatever process Michael undergone.

"_I will now take that loan back and another hundred as interest."_ Chuckled the demonic being while showing off a great razor like golden teeth. Dim multicolored orb rested in its hand.

"_After all I'm quite a loan shark."_ The benefactor opened his jaws impossibly wide tearing a fabric of sanity and splitting his cheeks. A quick toss and chomp of unhinged jaws, followed by sound of shattering glass marked the transfer of souls.

"Nope, you sir, are an asshole." Blackwell panted while kneeling.

"_Too true, but this is business lad. Back to the lesson." _The demon made a flicking gesture with its hands brushing some imaginary dust off his jacket.

"_You got to feel what your enemies feel in their last moments and you have seen how it is done. Try now yourself. Oh and don't attempt to eat it, or I'll have to pull it out of you agaaaain ." Mysterious figure continued in singsong voice._

Blackwell sighed and repeated the process on corpse beneath his feet. The orb he extracted looked like a ball of tar with swirling grey currents. Mike tossed the object towards his employer and took out a new smoke. A crunch signified consumption of another soul.

"_Spicy, yet sweet. Just how I like it." _A content sigh escaped lips of the demon.

"_Here catch, congrats on your first bounty."_ Blackwell grabbed a card that looked a lot like credit card back home. Four digit figure was printed on the golden surface.

"Ten grand?" Wondered Mike.

"_He was a low grade soul, pretty low on the command ladder too, but he knew some good stuff. By the way that chit you are holding is universal credit coupon. You use it pay for stuff in the Ether City, on the other side of the portal." _Benefactor waved his hand dismissively at the mention of sorcerer and pointed at the blinking PDA Blackwell held in his pocket.

"_Look through the settings you will find 'teleport' and 'recall' functions." _Businessman mentioned and started walking back to the tear in reality.

"_I am Catilatio, but seeing how latin is a dead language you can call me Colin._" Newly dubbed Colin disappeared in the rift. The rip in the fabric of reality started to close.

Suddenly Colin's head peeked out of the portal for one last parting remark.

"_Oh and try not to die, respawn costs one grand apiece. Ta ta._"

As the rift started to disappear Blackwell stood dumbfounded glancing at the credit card and simmering afterimage of the portal.

"What the fuck did just happen?" Wisp wondered while time restarted around him.

"Sir. The wind is shifting, that phosphorous is fast approaching our position. Second platoon already hightailed out of here. Your orders. Sir?" Random trooper from Crowguard approached Blackwell and waved at the fast approaching incendiary cloud of death.

"Oh fuck. Leg it boys, back to rendezvous point." Mike started running back to the location of destroyed shrine. The blood towers, once they lost Khrone's power, were just a shoddy scrap pillars that got bulldozed by armored vehicles.

**Deimos Peninsula **

**Staging Point Zero, 0300 hrs.**

New entrenched position was established around remnants of Blackwell's latest assault. Heavy weapon emplacements took positions in sandbag nests. Snipers scanned perimeter with their scoped rifles. Mortar squads sat around in holes from previous bombardment. Non-commissioned officers ran around the trenches getting updates from the troopers. Captain in charge of the defensive position barked orders at Lieutenants.

APCs and IFVs parked behind larger boulders to hide from the spotters. Dilos started to approach from south. Nefron and his Pheonix slowly approached from the west.

Everything looked ready for final offensive against chaos.

"Well fellas, our time window just got smaller. My scouts report last chaos elements crumbled half an hour ago and greenskins are hauling ass right at us. We have max two hours before this fight turns three way free for all." And just like that all optimism sapped from Blackwell, as soon as he heard Forthecho's report.

"Brilliant. Any other good news?" Blackwell asked over the com.

"Yeah folks back at HQ are getting reports of Necrons slowly massing on their east border."

"Forget I asked." Blackwell facepalmed.

This day just keeps getting better and better.

Next chapter: Punchline.

AN: Chapter turned shorter than I expected. So I explained the idea of economy in my universe. Also gave the first glance at the guy in power. Will try to put up new chapters every other day, or so.


	15. Chapter 14

Straight to the point today, no AN.

**Chapter 14. Punchline**

**Deimos Peninsula **

**Staging Point Zero, 0420 hrs.**

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck." Blackwell ran amidst tracer rounds and explosions coming from the hill. Bolter fire and rocket salvos impacted all around the trench line. Most armor support withdrew as soon as battalion sustained around 50 percent losses. Burnt out hulls of APCs littered the back line, torn wrecks of Dilos were strewn across the field.

All because chaos forces got ballsy an hour into the assault. At first advance worked as well as it could, given the circumstances. Uphill battle, against well trained and experienced forces, without heavy armor and constantly harassed air support. Yup, it could have gone well.

Counter attack was as brutal as it was quick. Raptors descended in the middle of Wisp's squads, dismembering soldiers and spreading confusion. Havoc marines switched to powerful variant of munitions, rendering cover ineffective at best. Chaos tanks and artillery rained fire.

The retreat, if anyone could call it was disorganized and frantic. Less optimistic minds would call it full rout. Just like that, in span of 15 minutes, combined forces of two commanders fell apart.

Then enemy started to retake ground, pounding trenches with everything they had. Second wave of soldiers, that were getting ready to start assault, had to bunker down and brave the onslaught.

All the while remnants of first wave and Mike were running back to the safety. One by one troops surrounding Blackwell were picked off by the enemy. Large exit wounds, courtesy of bolter rounds, ran red with blood of brave men and women. Ripped of limbs flew in the wake of high yield explosives. Laser beams burnt through unprotected areas of Michael's soldiers.

When Blackwell was couple meters short of a bunker, an explosive shell impacted wreckage that littered the area. Shrapnel and concussive force flung commander through the hole in the bunker.

"FUUUUUUUCK." A wail of pain and anger escaped wounded Wisp.

"Is he okay?" One of the occupants wondered aloud while checking on the commander's condition.

"Don't know." Another one with a red cross painted on the chest knelt down next to the Wisp's body.

"I'll live soldier. Get me the Colonel on the horn." Blackwell slowly sat up and winced as shrapnel dug deeper in the wounds. He mentally patted himself on the back for the extra plating his body armor had. Otherwise that fragments would have shredded him like tissue paper.

"And you! Get tweezers and get this shit out of me." Mike pointed at the medic and than at his bloodied side.

"Colonel Rotstein is on the line, sir."

"Give it here." Blackwell growled as medic worked on his side.

"Colonel, we are well and truly fucked here. Chances of taking that bloody hill dropped to zero." Whistling sound of whirlwind's missile salvo screamed through the air and detonated somewhere behind Wisp's position. Shrikes of pain and agony could be heard in the wake of bombardment.

"I have no other option. BROKEN ARROW, I repeat BROKEN ARROW . I am announcing a full retreat. We are leaving. Grab anything that is not bolted down, burn or blow up everything else. You have half an hour tops." Wisp gave his orders to officers and men.

"Get APCs to start swinging by and pick up wounded first. We have to hold for a couple minutes here boys. Then it is delaying tactics. Mine what you can destroy what you cannot." Blackwell gave more orders via battalion radio frequency.

"Nefron, I need you to air lift as many men and resources out of frontline as you can."

"It will be hard their fighters are giving us tough time."

"Just do what you can."

Retreat is bitter ordeal. You admit your own defeat. Inability to overcome challenge, adversity, enemy. It shatters morale and confidence. Drains will to fight. All in all it is quite an unpleasant experience that Wisp forces had to endure.

Around fifteen minute mark radio silence was broken by the colonel.

"We are finished with the main base, proceeding to the exit point. We will swing by and give you a lift. ETA ten minutes." Grizzled voice of staff officer did not manage to lift the spirits of hunkered down soldiers, but it gave them something to look forward to. Getting out of this hell.

At twenty minutes radio burst alive again.

"This is Flight Lieutenant Gibson, commander Forthecho is down, enemy triple A got him right in the cockpit."

"Is he still alive?" Blackwell asked panicking flyboy.

"Affirmative, but he is not in any condition to fly, oh god, he has large glass shard in his eye, it is sticking out, blood is everywhere."

"Calm down and get him down near the convoy, medic will take care of him, as for you Lieutenant, get your ass back to the Victory Bay." Blackwell sighed as he finished his conversation with the pilot. The migraine was coming, he just knew it.

"Roger."

At thirty minute mark frontline troops started to load into APCs, every minute more departed driving towards north, back to their main headquarters. Victory Bay looked like amazing prospect after the fiasco of Deimos Peninsula.

Around the deadline Wisp could hear the stampede of the orks. Thousands of green skins were surely just entering the peninsula. Good thing Wisp ordered scorched earth retreat, leaving nothing for the savage beasts to loot and later use against his forces.

Tracers and laser beams once again lit the night sky, this time the battle was between heretics and xenos. Blackwell sighed and picked out a new cancer stick from his nearly depleted pack. Lit it and sighed with fumes escaping his mouth.

"Sir, mind if I take one?" A crow guard trooper asked gesturing at the pack Blackwell held in his hands. Thousand yard stare present on a young face, helmet and facemask laying discarded on bloodstained floor of the APC.

"Sure, here you go kid." Blackwell handed soldier his smokes and lighter.

Commander rode in with some soldiers. Mixed bag of troopers, crows, section twos and conscripts.

Of nearly three thousand soldiers entering this battle only nine hundred survived. Heavy supply losses, huge blow to the morale and the severe problem with manpower in the future. All in one package.

"This feeling is like that thing I heard on Cadia." Section two operative started lifting his gaze up from the floor.

"An officer bought a dog which barked for an hour whenever his regiment won. No one understood why expect the owner. One day another officer asked the owner why his dog does that. He said that the canine was a huge fan of his unit and does that every time they win. The other asked what happens when they lose." Section two sighed and drank a bit of water from his canteen.

"The answer was that he doesn't know, he only had him for a year." Another crow guard finished for the special operative.

Most soldiers were too tired to do anything else than nod. Blackwell only saw how fitting it was, they were that dog and for the first time in his career they lost.

"Now we know what dog felt when they lost…"

**END OF ARC I**

**OUTRO/CREDITS **

Song_: It has begun by Starset_

**MUSIC STARTS**

**Even a well lit place, can hide salvation,**

White background, left side starts to roll with the names of people involved in the production. Three dark silhouettes start to appear on the screen, first in the center than to left and finally to the right. Then silhouettes start walking towards the screen.

**A map to the one man maze that never sees the sun,**

Background changes to the red and amid the static effect Colin appears. Still dressed in business attire, grinning wildly showing of his shark teeth. Two red lights glow where eyes should be. Arms spread wide in welcoming gesture.

**Where the lost are the heroes and the thieves are left to drown, **

Background changes to the battlefield, corpses of Wisp's forces and Chaos army are strewn around, red dawn rises over the hill. Central silhouette lights something near his face. Red dot appears in the corner of his mouth and smoke fumes start to rise over his head.

**But everyone knows by now, fairytales are not found, they're written in the walls,**

Background changes again, Planet Kronus spins slowly around as flashes of light signify ongoing space battle. Figure to the right takes a swig from an object that looks like a bottle. The silhouette to the left takes out a flip lighter and flicks a flame near his chest area.

**As we walk in the straight line**

Background shifts into Imperial Guard iconic banner with two headed eagle.

**Down in the dirt with a landslide approaching**

Figures start to run towards screen, Imperial banner slowly shifts into three separate banners, one with a dragon, one with scorpion tail and final one with a bleached and cracked skull.

**But nothing could ever stop us from stealing out own place in the sun,**

Figures reveal themselves as our main heroes. In center Blackwell, to the right Brandt and last the Nefron to the left. Mike smoking his cigarette, Marcus holding bottle of liquor and Forthecho gripping a flip lighter. Background remains the same.

**We will face the odds against us and run into the fear we run from,**

Back ground shifts again into a white void, following commanders are their respective armies. Infantry right behind them, armor and airforce in the further background.

**IT HAS BEGUN.**

Camera captures faces of three wisps. Blackwell smiling through his bandages and exhaling smoke from nostrils. Marcus grinning and giving a thumbs up gesture, his commissar cap sliding on his forehead. Forthecho smirking and holding his palm to his right eye. Background turns into the fire and consumes everything.

**MUSIC STOPS**

Last thing remaining on screen is logo of the sponsor.

Next chapter: Hired help.

AN: Well, chaos battles are finished. Looks like Wisps softened heretics enough fro green skins horde to punch their ticket. Second Arc is coming up. Stay tuned. Oh and finally got around to that scar someone wanted, just not in a way they expected.


	16. Chapter 15

AN: Big cheers for METALHELLSPWN for reminding me that I actually have this story on the site. I did not write because I forgot about it. Now it is time to remedy that mistake.

Enjoy the chapter, as always read and review.

**ARC II: Engine of Commerce.**

**Chapter 15. Hired Help**

**Victory Bay**

**Headquarters, Emperor's Plaza , 2000 hrs.**

"How goes rebuilding our forces?" Blackwell asked the highest ranking officer in the building.

Cold electric light illuminated multitude of technicians working on the consoles, soldiers running to the officers reporting problems and confirming completion of the tasks.

"We are back to half of our strength. Mechanized forces are under fifty percent. We had to pull out rear echelon forces to meet the ends." A colonel with greying hair and face covered in scars listed of looking at his tablet.

"Our resources are down to ten percent and we managed to empty all of the depots when it comes to spare parts." The officer continued scrolling reports from quartermasters.

"Our rank and file is recovering morale from the fiasco at the Deimos, they will need a victory and soon if they are to be back in top shape." Another report from Lieutenant's scrolled by.

"Our supply lines are facing a problem. Air drops have halted due to heavy enemy interceptor presence in high atmosphere. The fleet can't spare anything to clean them up. Looks like Necron fighters." Once Blackwell heard that he groaned and covered his face with palm, for once he did not smoke.

"Enemy continues their advance into the Heartlands. Their forces suffer heavy casualties due to automated turrets and minefields. We scrapped most of the base there and rerouted resources to the Victory Bay." Finally some good news graced the ears of tired Wisp.

"Our friends, Marcus and Nefron, how are they doing?" Michael asked the colonel.

"Commander Brandt forces lost some of their heavy armor and a platoon of infantry but that is about it. Commander Forthecho lost one wing of fighters and two platoons of paratroopers along with one Thunderhawk transport. All of their forces are nearly back to original fighting force." Colonel seemed to hesitate for the second before continuing.

"At this point we suffered heaviest losses. Good news is we pushed chaos far enough that Orks should be able to finish it for us. If they aren't we still are covered for some time on the southern flank."

Blackwell gazed at the charts depicting usage of the resources and power in his main base, every once in the while an automate report came in signaling a lost turret. Wisp activated his scouting ability and looked over Pavonian Heartlands.

Black gunmetal figures, greatly resembling skeletons continued to march, shoot and fall under the massed fire of heavy bolter turrets. Rocket turrets salvo erased heavier Necrons from time to time.

Death machine's return fire damaged turret's guns, superstructure or generator knocking them out of commission. The flood of death was coming and their numbers were easily in the thousands.

"How many Necrons do we expect?" Blackwell asked with tired sigh as another turret burst into flames.

"Fleet estimated their numbers to be around four thousand. Our forces number one thousand, three hundred, eighty one in total." Grim faced colonel reported slightly fidgeting at the dropping temperature in the room.

Mike gritted his teeth while running possible possible scenarios where those numbers will work in his favor. So far nothing came to his mind. His thoughts started to wander into his abilities as a Wisp.

He had two skills he used almost all the time, one for encouraging troops the other for scouting. The third one was situational at best and now that he found out the bomber he called with it came from fleet, downright useless.

"How much time we have before they come knocking on our doorstep?" Blackwell asked before the officer looked at another batch of reports.

"The assault on the automated defenses we have set up should take them one more day, the march to the border zone another two." Colonel paused for the minute zooming on the canyon leading to the Victory Bay.

"When we blow up the charged and block this route they have two options. Dig through or circle around north or South. If they go North they will step on Blood Ravens toes and they will retaliate." Officer scratched the back of his head.

"That would be best outcome for us as it would stall their offensive indefinitely. South would lead them to our marshland outpost we have recently acquired. That would cost them another two days plus the time they would lose fighting our guerrilla troops in that area Commander Nefron left." Once more deep in thought the Imperial officer calculated the time.

"That in total with difficult terrain would give us around five days. The sum goes up to eight days." The colonel passed his tablet to the Wisp highlighting the route enemy could take before continuing with thee last option.

"Finally, they could bulldoze through the collapsed canyon. We have deployed two full platoons of troopers to delay any progress there, between snipers and grenade troopers we should be able to buy ourselves up to nine days in total."

Blackwell racked his brains for any idea how to deal with the incoming threat. Everything, so far came down to delaying the inevitable. That just would not do.

First he had to deal with the useless skill he had. Mike dismissed the officer and went into his office sat behind polished mahogany desk, a leftover from good old Alexander. Then he pulled up the menu responsible for customizing commander avatar.

Bombing run was cashed in, the replacement was something the system called Master at Arms. That skill greatly increased his ability to handle any kind of weapon.

At first it felt like somebody shoved hot needle into his brain, a mother of all migraines, but then the clarity came and everything started to make sense. Dual wielding, no problem. Energy weapons, I know them all. Heavy weapons, watch and learn kid.

Blackwell started to browse the 'online' sections of the tablet. First thing he found was bounty board. A wall of information about targets that one faction or another wanted dead, or wanted their soul. The payment was usually credits for low profile targets and souls for high value ones.

Fun part Credits were universal currency when it came to Wisp economy, Mike found that out while browsing forum section. It was used for a lot of things, paying information brokers. Buying and selling resources. Acquiring blueprints for vehicles, armor and weapons. Purchasing 'Skill Books', or more like Data Packets. Finally there was an option to hire mercenary Wisps.

The last option got Blackwell's attention, he started to scroll through names of commanders for hire. Most were small time groups that could not make a cut on their own, got chased out by opposition or got repeatedly killed. There were also big names there from what Mike saw and confirmed with forums.

First one was '**Wolfpack**' company, Wisps with military background, gun nuts and paramilitary organization members in real life, now one of the more effective fighting forces present. Their composition consisted of mix of Space Marines, Imperial Guard and Tau. Emblem wise, they had a silver wolf howling to the pale moon with a black background.

The other one '**Cossacks**' company, made of players from the Eastern Europe. You could find all Slavic players there commanding mix of Orks, Eldar and Imperial Guard. They had the numbers on the other company, but lacked the quality. Their emblem was two black crisscrossing sabers with checkered background. Top left square was red, top right yellow, bottom left blue and bottom right white.

Now he had seen their price range and it was way out of his financial capabilities. That left freelancers. Unassociated Wisps ready to make some cash. There were a lot of names there, everyone trying to sell their service, marketing their skills, inflating their virtues and downplaying their vices.

Mike gave a hollow laugh, he felt like a guy in Human Resources department looking at the stack of applications. He resigned himself to a long night of searching for a man, or a woman fit for the job.

**8 hours later**

Blackwell stretched his sore muscles, hours sitting behind the desk didn't do his spine any favors either. Series of clicks and pops from joints prompted a sigh of relief from exhausted commander.

He was digging up information for possible hires and in the process found out information about four more factions that did not sell their forces as mercenaries, but pursued another agenda. He had made dossiers on all of those.

First there were the "**Merchants**", made from Imperial Guard exclusively. They were major player in the market, responsible for over the half ongoing transaction regarding blueprints, skill books and raw material. Their MO was taking over mineral rich worlds and cranking their output to eleven. Most of the members had some corporation background. They had sizeable force but no one wanted to touch them because they could blacklist someone on the market for screwing with them. Their logo was simple but eye catching. Green shield with a golden dollar sign.

Next in the line were collection of Ork Wisps hell-bent on finding biggest fights and harassing non Ork players, a full PvP organization by the name '**Green Rush**'. The first thing you see they were hard into role-play of the Orks. The other was that they were PKing, or Player Killing, left, right and center non Ork players. Emblem they had consisted of the green circle blood red ork skull in the center.

Then we had the organization called "**Think Tank**", those were researchers hailing from Eldar, Tau and Imperial Guard. Their main slogan was 'peace through superior firepower'. They were responsible for setting up multitude of mobile research stations and had the biggest fleet up to date. They were heavily concentrated on the research and development. Also they happily bought new designs from freelancer Wisps and smaller organizations. As far as their Emblem goes it was a two color shield with white beaker in the center. Top half of the shield was colored black, while bottom half was blue.

The last but not least were '**Patriots**'. Wisps who wanted to hunt down a xeno, burn heretic or generally kill anything that was not human, or subscribed to the Empire's policy. Rumor said they had official backing of the Golden Throne and all the branches of Inquisition. They were composed of Imperial Guard and Space Marine forces only. Those guys were zealot version of Orks from '**Green Rush'** and have butted their heads with them on more than one occasion. They had the emblem in the shape of the shield with a golden sword facing the bottom part of the shield. The shield was entirely red.

That summed at the shakers of the community at the moment and Blackwell knew that he would be doing some business with the **Merchants** and **Think Tank** once he had the capital to spare. He would also be likely to do some odd jobs for **Patriots** if his current alliance membership stayed within their tolerance range.

As for the freelancer mercenaries he managed to narrow his results to the three dossiers.

Mario 'Thunder' Pettinelli. An Italian commander, playing as the Imperial Guard, who focused heavily on the artillery forces. Combat history consisted of three successful sorties against Tau and one against Necrons. The fee was reasonable for the two battalions of Cadian troops and thirty batteries of Basilisks and mobile artillery platform called Royal Basilisk. In total he would cost him seven grand for a month.

Adrian 'Gearbox' Stone. American commander, playing as the Space Marines. Mainly focusing on the walkers or Dreadnaughts. He was also reported to deploy super heavy walker called Eraser. It looked like ED 209 from Robocop movie but it was twice as large as a Dreadnaught. Resume did not give any additional info about that walker, but it shed light on combat history. Five successful combat operations against Orks. Cost of hire for a month eight grand. He would bring fifteen dreadnaughts and possibly the Eraser.

Catalina 'Iron Maiden' Pavlova. Russian commander, this one leading the Necron derivative faction. It looked like a heavily modified human being with a lot, and I mean a lot of cybernetic replacement. More than any techpriest would be comfortable putting into themselves. First thing that comes to the mind is that it looks like a Strogg. Yes, Strogg from Quake 4. She had six completed missions under her belt. Four against Orks, one against Necrons and one versus Chaos. She was rumored to deploy Spider heavy troopers and is known to use fallen enemies as materials to increase her own troop numbers. Monthly salary equaled nine grand.

With those three dossiers in hand Blackwell walked out of the command center and called his two compatriots to a meeting. They need to choose whom to hire.

Next chapter: Welcome to the Family

AN: So yeah, my bad forgot about this story, guess I'll try to make updates more regular, every other week or so. If I ever miss it, feel free to throw a reminder message at me.

This should show you how the Wisps are slowly reshaping Warhammer universe to fit their needs.

This chapter is an official beginning to the second arc of the story, I will throw an intro before next chapter, just have to pick a good music for it.

Also I think it is about time to have an interactive segment feel free to leave a review which commander should I hire.


	17. Opening ARC II

**AN:** Since there was no one interested in the poll I used random number generator to pick a commander. Results point at Thunder.

Below is the opening I have promised. Enjoy and leave a review.

**ARC 2 Opening **

**Intro song:**

Indestructible by Disturbed.

Background erupts in the gunfire and artillery barrage, air raid siren starts to sound as the wind of Nefron's fighters speed towards shifting black mass sporadically firing green beams into the air.

Camera shifts to show the battlefield, lines of trenches litter outskirts of the city. Bunkers made out of concrete and lined with sandbags are placed at regular intervals behind the trenches. Armored turrets flank each side of the bunkers.

Heavy weapon teams set up their equipment on the reinforced platforms and start unloading into the mass of the undead machines. Basilisk batteries start to aim their howitzer at the incoming hostiles.

"_**Another mission, the powers have called me away, Another time to carry my colors again,"**_

Camera shows Blackwell standing in the middle of grey background, some fumes can be seen floating around, ever present cigarette hanging from his lips, loose bandages on his face flutter in the wind like a scarf.

Suddenly he grabs his AT4 pistol from the holster on the hip and grenade launcher from his back. He starts to perform gun kata firing in different position and unloading grenade behind him.

Camera zooms at his face and freezes, showing Cheshire cat grin showing through the bandages and a cancer stick hanging from the corner of his lips. Faint scars can be seen where bandages hove gotten loose.

His last picture is minimized in the top left corner of the screen.

"_**My motivation, an oath I've sworn to defend, To win the honor of coming back home again," **_

Camera switches to orange background some embers fly around. In the middle stands Nefron. He holds heavy flamer and wears large tank full of promethium on his back. He is clothed in Imperial pilot uniform and flight helmet with rebreather mask. He starts to spray liquid fire around and corners of the screen start to catch on fire. He unclasps the mask to show an unhinged smile of a pyromaniac.

His picture is minimized in top right corner of the screen.

"_**No explanation will matter after we begin, Unlock the dark destroyer that's buried in me,"**_

This time the background is navy blue and the corners have the effect of underwater blurriness. The character standing in the middle is Marcus.

He is wearing the trenchcoat commonly seen on Krieg Grenadiers. Grey cap obscures his head and he is holding heavy machine gun looking like a replica of MG42. Two drum magazines are hanging from his belt along with satchel filled with stick handle grenades.

He brings his HMG into a hip firing position and starts to unload in full auto mode at the screen. Spent casing start to drop all around. His face is contorted in a primal roar. His eyes are obscured by the shadow of the cap due to angle of the light.

Camera zooms on his face and freezes his last expression before minimizing it in bottom left corner.

"_**My true vocation and now my unfortunate friend, You will discover a war you are unable to win."**_

Next comes a new figure this time background is colored in light shade of yellow and there are jumping sparks in the corners of the screen.

The newcomer wears a Cadian officer uniform with a tag on the left breast showing his name "Pettinelli". He is 6'7 feet tall with green eye visible from his headwear. His head and face are covered in a checkered shmegah. His left eyes is covered in range finder that is basically reinforced earpiece extended to his eye in see through glass piece displaying set of numbers and charts.

He is holding huge sniper rifle that looks like 50 cal Barrett knockoff with composite stock and bipod, along with green laser sight. He starts to aim at the center of screen and fires single round. Large shell casing flies out of the receiver.

There is no visible face expression aside from the narrowing of his eye behind the rangefinder eyepiece. Camera freezes last visible screen and minimalizes it in bottom tight corner of the screen.

"_**I'll have you know, that I've become…"**_

All four minimized screenshots slowly resize themselves until each one of them is exactly the quarter of available screen size.

"_**Indestructible"**_

Red lights appear behind Blackwell googles, exactly where his eyes should be.

"_**Determination that is incorruptible."**_

Same red coals appear to glow beneath the visor of Nefron's helmet.

"_**From the other side, a terror to behold."**_

Red dots appear in the shadow cast by the cap Marcus is wearing.

"_**Annihilation will be unavoidable."**_

Last set of crimson lights appears in the scope of Thunder's rifle and his rangefinder.

"_**Every broken enemy will know, that their opponent had to be invincible."**_

Camera changes back to the trench lines near the city. Soldiers are firing at the incoming mass of Necrons. Undead abomination return fire, all the while four commanders seem to be resuming their action seen in the background only this time we can see the results being shredded and molten scrap piles of Necron Warriors.

"_**Take a last look around while you're alive"**_

Necron Lord along with guard of Pariahs appear before the Wisps. Pariahs brandish and twirl their gauss staffs, while the Lord points its metallic, bonelike finger at the assembled Wisps.

Commanders pull receivers on their weapons and point them at the new enemies. Red glow still visible in their eyes.

"_**I'm an indestructible master of war."**_

Both sides charge at each other firing blasts of green energy and hails of bullets, grenades and streams of fire. Shortly before the clash, camera starts angling upwards. Everything starts to dim as the music keeps quieting down.

AN: It is shorter than normal, but then again I am trying to keep intros and credits under two minutes.

Next update… in a week, or two. I think…


	18. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16. Welcome to the Family**

**Victory Bay**

**Headquarters, Emperor's Plaza , T-48 hrs**

"This is general announcement, all units are to enter orange status, proceed to post sentries on the outer perimeter and resume construction. Boys and girls we have two days to make sure nothing gets past the red line." Blackwell calmly announced into a speaker of a vox system.

In last couple days techpriests and infantry were busy setting up network of trenches and reinforced bunkers. Elevated position have been erected to provide sniper nests and turrets were scattered all over the area to give some extra firepower for soldiers.

Designated runners moved around trenchlines distributing ammo, medical supplies and food rations. Officers walked among their soldiers making small talk and keeping morale above the ground. Heavy weapon teams recalibrated their targeting systems and armored core dug in their vehicles.

Combat engineers set up barbed wire with some extra surprise for the enemies, namely portable generators buried beneath that gave the wires extra kick. Others set up satchel charges and anti-infantry mines.

"Well, shit…" Blackwell sighed looking at reports streaming in from forward scouts.

The delaying action was success, albeit a costly one. 90 percent casualty rate among those left in canyon was a heavy toll. Right now Wisp needed every able bodied soldier to defend the main foothold on this planet.

"Sir, we have emptied all storage depots from the available resources, we even stripped them down to foundations for parts. Concrete base would make excellent position for howitzers that are due to arrive. We used metal sheets to reinforce second and third line trenches." Some random major announced the progress.

"Good work, we should have them in an hour or two, depends if the fleet makes fuss about those reinforcements." Michael looked around the room and walked to the window.

"It is unnerving isn't it?" He lit another cigarette while looking at the storm clouds brewing on the horizon.

"Sir?" Young officer apparently did not understand what his commander meant.

"The waiting? The calm before the storm? It is mind numbingly boring, yet the anticipation keeps you on your feet. You know what is going to happen and you are powerless to stop it. You can get swept by the tide or endure it." Fumes escaped bandaged Wisps lips as he elaborated.

"We will come out on top I'm sure sir. After all you managed to take back this place." Seems like the major was an optimist, or he has yet to face the grim reality of war. Either way the coming battle would verify this.

"You know lad, the Cadian troopers have this saying, 'Taking it was easy, holding it will be hard.' This is the situation here. The enemy has the initiative, we can only react and pray our preparations are enough." While sharing his wisdom the commander turned around and smiled at the young officer.

"While you are here, I want you to take this to the Landing Zone and make sure the transition goes smoothly." Blackwell walked to the major and handed him a paper with orders.

"Will do, sir." Major saluted and walked out of office.

"Heh. At least the Orks and Chaos are still going at it. Tug 'o war. I wonder how long will the Princes tolerate Eli's fuck ups before they cut him off." Mike smirked knowing the Chaos Lord was in deep shit with his superiors.

**Victory Bay**

**Industrial District , T-45 hrs**

"Good morning sir, commander Blackwell and commander Brandt are expecting you in FOB Alpha."

A lieutenant saluted to a figure walking out of Valkyrie transport and handing in the tablet with information.

"Our soldiers will take care of unloading equipment, sir." LT continued on and motioned to the soldiers standing behind him.

Old battle scarred Sergeant run up to the dropship and handled papers to the technician responsible for the air traffic.

"Lead the way." Responded tall figure in deep, muffled baritone voice. His face was obscured in black and white checkered shmegah and his uniform was colored in tan MARPAT patters. Two bright green eyes scanned the bustling airport and surrounding area.

"We will take Armadillo APC to be safe, we are going against Necrons here and we are not hundred percent sure if they have Deathmarks deployed. They should still be in transit to this location, but we are not going to take any chances." The Lieutenant walked to the black colored APC and opened troop compartment for the new arrival.

"Driver take us to FOB Alpha." LT knocked on the back of compartment to get his point across.

"Roger." Came the reply, before Armadillo's engine roared to life and it started to roll down the concrete road towards second line of trenches.

**Victory Bay**

**Forward Observation Base Alpha, Second trenchline , T-44 hrs**

"Hello Mr. Stone. We have your payment here." Blackwell handed over an armored suitcase to the new commander.

Adrian picked up the case and opened it, he counted the chips laying in there before nodding to the two Wisps.

"Everything is in order, you have me and my troops available for the next month. I assume you have read the fine print regarding salvage rights. Equal shares." Artillery commander asked before closing suitcase and handing it over to one of his soldiers.

The soldier in question saluted and walked out of the bunker. There was some chatter outside the doors and soon an engine of Armadillo could be heard before it slowly disappeared in the distance.

"We saw that and we have a question, how are the rates for Necrontyr alloy and their guass weapons? If we make it we will have both in metric tons." Brandt asked while picking his tablet and searching for markets where they could offload potential materials.

"1000 credits per metric ton for alloy alone, 2000 for weapon fragments in crates of 100 kilograms, intact weapons fetch between five and ten grand per crate depends on quality and type. Also Merchants want to get their hands on functioning Pariahs so a live capture would net us fifty grand per specimen." Adrian Stone calmly counting every example on his fingers.

"The last one will be hard as hell, considering they are almost always in presence of Necron Lord and surrounded by at least two dozens of Destroyers and a platoon worth of Warriors." Brandt calculated probability of achieving that specific bounty before sighing.

"If we find one isolated we could technically immobilize the bastard with emp before backup systems kick in. But that would take…." Marcus tapped his chin thinking.

"At least five squads unloading their supply of emp grenades. Pariahs are resilient." Tank commander continued before walking to the blackboard and picking up the chalk.

"We can forget about profit for now, we will have to show you our battle plan." Marcus started to draw on the blackboard.

"We have another Wisp here, he is responsible for air support and air screen. Sorry, but he could not be here, he is harassing enemy airforce and taking out scouts enemy has deployed." Blackwell explained absence of the final commander. He lit another smoke before continuing.

"As of right now, I would like to formally welcome you to the family." Mike extended his hand and waited for Adrian to shake it.

"As long as you keep money coming, I'm happy to help." Responded the mercenary before shaking offered hand.

"That's the spirit." Blackwell smirked before turning around to look at finished layout Marcus depicted on the blackboard.

"So here we have…" Marcus started slow and arduous process of explaining their strategy.

**Victory Bay**

**Forward Observation Base Alpha, Second trenchline , T-1 hr**

"My boys have set up some proximity flares, in those points." Stone pointed at the specific circles on blackboard.

"Once my spotters see the red smoke the basilisks will open up with Earthshaker round and then continue to pound this pockets with standard HE rounds." He marked another bigger area on blackboard with couple large circles.

"As you can see, grouping should be around 200 meters in diameter from ground zero. This would give us a wall of death for the enemy to run through. Since the enemy is Necrons we can safely say they don't run." Adrian laughed connecting circles together.

"With addition of Michael's mortar teams and heavy machineguns we should be able to deal with vanguards pretty easy." Brandt supplied getting nod from chain smoker.

"Your armor should be able to snipe theirs from safety of trenches since you outrange them." Blackwell supplied getting nod from Marcus.

"So the only problem would be the numbers of main force and later reinforcement from rear guard." Blackwell grimaced before getting an idea.

"I have a line with Admiral of the Fleet above, they should be in position to send couple rounds at main body, maybe reduce their numbers by tenth?" Mike supplied.

"We will use this as an ace in the hole." Marcus supplied his insight.

"So we have done our best to prepare?" Blackwell asked looking at the flickering light on the ceiling

"We did." Brandt picked up his tablet and looked at last minute reports.

"The best we could." Stone took out a copper coin and started to flip it between his knuckles.

Next Chapter: When it Rains…

An: I should be able to pull off another chapter by Friday?


End file.
